Editor, Daily Nexus,
I find it very obnoxious for those like columnist Jeff Dulgar (“Liberals Sideline ‘In God We Trust,'” Daily Nexus, April 29) to insist such mottos as “In God We Trust” are the bread and butter to American values and serve as historical relics to convey religiosity in government as a cornerstone to this country. What I take offense to is that the motto “In God We Trust” shits all over the original de facto motto of E pluribus unum (“From Many, One”) that came out of this country’s founding. Not only does “In God We Trust” suggest a national proclamation of faith that is divisive as it is not shared by all the citizens but also suggests the “godless liberty” that was instilled in the principles of the Constitution are fundamentally flawed. That godless liberty was precisely what Rev. M. R. Watkinson argued against during the Civil War in his influential letter to Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase in arguing for an “In God We Trust” motto to suggest the laws and principles in this country should be divine in nature. As for the other historic value, “In God We Trust” was never made official until 1956 as part of alarmist measures during the Cold War for the government to take on a hyper-national Christian facade against the Soviet Union. Stop trying to tell us what historic purpose “In God We Trust” serves and we will stop crossing it out on dollar bills with a pen.