Nates Notes

Pull out a $1 bill. Now flip it to the side without George Washington’s face. Next, look at the capitalized letters — O-N-E. Finally, read the line directly above it. If you see “THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” you have gone too far.

If you followed step three properly, you will notice the following statement: “IN GOD WE TRUST.”

Repeat the following steps with a $5 bill and a $10 bill. And for you high rollers who simply “got it like that,” do the same with a $100 bill. It does not matter the amount. If it is an official U.S. dollar bill, the words “IN GOD WE TRUST” will be there.

And that is no accident. In fact, in 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower officially declared those very words our nation’s official motto, per history.com.

And the history of those words date back to nearly a century before that motto even existed. According to the official website of the U.S. Mint, the initial use of this phrase on money occurred in 1864 on 2-cent coins.

Well today, more than 150 years later, our nation’s motto is not only found on money. It can now be found on the bumpers of police squad vehicles in various parts of the country.

According to The Washington Post, some law enforcement in states such as Illinois and North Carolina proudly placed those very words on the backs of their vehicles.

It is a respectable and honorable gesture by the police that I admire. But there are those who strongly disagree with me. Naturally, when the word “God” is even hinted at in areas involving government, there are those willing and ready to strike it down. And this scenario was no exception.

According to its website, Freedom From Religion Foundation has as its ultimate goal the “separation of church and state.” As expected, it was outraged at the “IN GOD WE TRUST” decals, claiming it was “exclusionary of atheistic and agnostic citizens,” per herald-review.com.

So far, everyone with the decal intends to keep them, and I pray that they do. Sure, having this on your vehicle is not tantamount to claiming you are a Christian. But it is saying that you work for a higher authority, not just yourself. And that is an excellent message for all, not just police, to relay.