MSNBC is running a poll asking whether the slogan, “In God We Trust,” should be removed from American currency. A better question is, *which* God do we trust?

BY DAVID RICKEY — You’ve probably seen the sign over the cash register at a country diner:

In God We Trust - All Others, CASH

That line occurred to me when I received an email about an MSNBC poll asking whether we should have “In God We Trust” on our money. The email said:

Here’s your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our faith in God, as a nation.

The poll itself, framed the question in terms of the separation of Church and State. However, the question this raises for me is “In what God, if any, do we trust?”

My guess is that the people who sent this email trust in a god who is on “our side,” but not on the side of the oppressed. It’s a god who supports prosperity for the already rich but not economic and social equality for the poor and disenfranchised. Do we trust in a god who challenges us beyond these self-serving theologies? Do we trust in a god who speaks as validly through the Qur’an, or the Bhagavad-Gita, or the Tao te Ching, as through the Gospels?

And what does it mean to trust such a god? Trust doesn’t mean security. Trust means taking a risk, as in risking “self,” to serve the greater good. It means stepping out in faith without regard for personal safety. I believe it means spending the dollars that have “In God We Trust” without asking “What’s in it for me?” It’s the opposite of having a “trust fund” mentality.

Only if this country truly believes in a god (however each of us defines that) who seeks to work through us to change the world, who calls on us to sacrifice our Ego for the well-being of all, who challenges each of us to let go of our grip on those little green pieces of paper as the source of our security, then and only then should we say on those pieces of paper: “In God We Trust.”

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