Theologian who heralded the death of God ponders his own

c. 2008 Religion News Service `In God We Trust’ will move from edge of new coins WASHINGTON (RNS) The national motto “In God We Trust” will move from the edge of new dollar coins honoring U.S. presidents to the front or back of the currency. A provision in the $555 billion domestic spending bill for […]

c. 2008 Religion News Service

`In God We Trust’ will move from edge of new coins

WASHINGTON (RNS) The national motto “In God We Trust” will move from the edge of new dollar coins honoring U.S. presidents to the front or back of the currency.


A provision in the $555 billion domestic spending bill for 2008, which President Bush signed into law on Dec. 26, calls for the change to take place “as soon as is practicable.” Greg Hernandez, a spokesman for the U.S. Mint, said the change will occur in 2009.

The Mint began producing presidential one-dollar coins in 2007, honoring George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, the first four presidents. The words “In God We Trust” were placed along the edge of the coins, as instructed by Congress, Hernandez said.

“It wasn’t the Mint’s decision to move the motto (to the edge); it was according to law,” he said.

But critics complained about the placement and thought the words belonged on the front or back of the coins instead.

“There have been people who either have e-mailed their comments to our Web site, called us or contacted their representatives,” Hernandez said.

The dies have already been produced for the 2008 coins _ which will feature James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren _ so those will still have the motto along the edge.

But come 2009 _ when William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James K. Polk and Zachary Taylor will be honored _ the motto will be moved.

“We have to then redesign either the heads or the tails in order to comply with that,” Hernandez said of the new law.


Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said he was pleased with the change, saying that his group had been concerned that “moving `In God We Trust’ off the face of our coins was just one step toward removing it altogether.”

The motto first appeared on U.S. coins in 1864. “In God We Trust” was included on the back of dollar bills in 1957, a year after Congress declared those words as the country’s motto.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Conservative Anglicans plan global summit

(RNS) Conservative Anglican leaders from across the globe have announced plans to gather in Jerusalem in June, one month before more than 800 Anglican bishops are scheduled to convene for a once-a-decade conference in England.

The conservatives’ event, called the “Global Anglican Future Conference,” is planned by bishops disturbed by the increasing acceptance of homosexuality in the Western branches of the Anglican Communion.

Planned for June 15-22, the meeting will gather “Anglicans from both the evangelical and Anglo-Catholic wings of the church,” the group said in a statement.

Conservative archbishops from Africa and the “Global South” have criticized the communion’s spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, over his guest list for Lambeth Conference, a huge summit of Anglicans held every 10 years in England.


Williams did not invite openly gay Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, whose 2003 election kicked off the current controversy, but neither did he welcome U.S. missionary bishops consecrated by conservative Africans.

Chris Sugden, a spokesman for the conservatives, said, “This conference is not a direct challenge to the Lambeth Conference,” but it “will provide opportunities for fellowship and care for those who have decided not to attend Lambeth.”

Anglican Bishop Suheil Dawani of Jerusalem said he wasn’t happy about the planned gathering.

“I am deeply troubled that the meeting, of which we had no prior knowledge, will import inter-Anglican conflict into our diocese, which seeks to be a place of welcome for all Anglicans.”

_ Daniel Burke

Quote of the Day: Minister and lawyer Oliver “Buzz” Thomas

(RNS) “Ultimately, it is Muslims who must excise the scourge of radicalism from Islam. From within. We can help by behaving like the generous, just and benevolent society moderate Muslims once considered us to be.”

_ Oliver “Buzz” Thomas, minister and lawyer, commenting on hopes for bridging religious divides in 2008 in a commentary in USA Today.

KRE/RB END RNS

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