🌀 Irony in Plain Sight: Why “In God We Trust” Doesn’t Belong on Our Money

A proper beginning, I suppose, would be a definition of irony.

Irony (noun): Incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result.

Few examples are more ironic than the phrase “In God We Trust” printed on American currency. I’ve seen fundamentalists react with outrage at the mere suggestion of removing it—as if the idea were a personal attack. But let me assure you: God, trust, and money do not mix. And as the saying goes,

“The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.”

Let’s explore this irony in a language the faithful might understand.

📜 The Commandments and the Contradictions

In the West, many of us are introduced early to the Ten Commandments. The first three are especially difficult to grasp—even into adulthood—and it’s here that the irony begins:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image…
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain…

Yet we routinely contradict all three.

We create symbols—crucifixes, icons, constellations, even words—to represent God. These are seen as badges of faith, but they violate the second commandment. And if we can be led to believe in things we’ve never witnessed, we can also be led to witness things we never believed possible.

💸 The Love of Money and the Name of God

“The love of money is the root of all evil.”

And yet, the name of the God we are taught to love with all our heart, mind, and soul is printed on every dollar bill. Alongside it: Trust.
But trust in what? In a system built on usury—specifically, Fractional Reserve Banking—which many historical accounts describe as a slow but certain form of social decay.

Even the Bible warns us.
Ezekiel 18:13 says that the man who lends money at interest “shall surely die.”
We may not enforce that penalty today, but the warning remains dire—and relevant.

⚠️ A Better Inscription

“In God We Trust” should be removed from our currency. In its place, we should inscribe a warning:

“Beware: The pursuit of material wealth and social status may rob you of your true value in society.”

The current phrase acts as a subterfuge—a spiritual smokescreen that masks the exploitative nature of our economic system. It conflates divine trust with financial manipulation, and in doing so, it undermines both.

🧩 Humanity’s Puzzle: Faith, Philosophy, and the Future

Imagine a 200-billion-piece jigsaw puzzle. Each piece represents an individual’s responsibility—cut in roughly the same shape, yet shaped by unique histories and experiences. The image that emerges depends on the lives of those who hold the pieces. When every piece fits within the border—defined by the Laws of Nature—we begin to see the big picture.

A reasonable approach to assembling this puzzle is to start with the border: the straight-edged pieces that give structure. From there, we group pieces by color and hue, assembling clusters—“colonies”—that represent civilizations. As more pieces connect, these civilizations merge and link to the border, revealing greater clarity. That is, unless a man-made or natural disaster disrupts the process, altering the image. History has shown us both kinds of catastrophe.

“Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” — Edmund Burke

✝️ Faith and Reflection

As a child, I was baptized at age eight in a Church of Christ in Great Bridge, Virginia. I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior, but I later discovered that faith isn’t always simple. I’ve come to deeply respect the message attributed to Jesus—especially the “red words” of the Bible. These teachings have shaped my worldview, rooted in Judeo-Christian values.

Let it be understood: a closer advancement toward a “Kingdom of Heaven” is possible.

I don’t take the virgin birth as literal truth. Figuratively, Jesus was a Son of God—much like other cultures honor their great ones. Siddhartha Gautama, for example, is revered as the greatest Buddha in Buddhism. Literally, I believe these figures were men with missions:

• Newton to calculus
• Hawking to theoretical physics
• Aristotle to logic

Their purpose? Higher knowledge, righteousness, and the reduction of suffering for future generations.

I believe Jesus may have studied at the Library of Alexandria before returning to Judea. Armed with wisdom, he challenged the religious authorities of his time and positioned himself as the prophesied messiah. Yet today, many focus more on his divinity than the moral clarity of his teachings.

The simplest rule—found in every major philosophy and religion—is this:
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

🧠 Philosophy, Logic, and the Human Condition

People often quarrel over semantics and translation. They fail to connect new ideas to old ones. They think without the big picture in mind. Logical fallacies dominate modern discourse. We anthropomorphize the indescribable, blame imagined entities, and ignore reasonable causality. We justify exclusion of those who think differently, forsaking a greater good.

In 2013, we lived in an era vulnerable to man-made disaster. Humanity’s potential for greatness is matched only by its capacity for destruction. Our industrial abundance is shackled by a monetary system that inhibits production, generates waste, and fosters social dysfunction.

America—born of the Enlightenment—has a global responsibility. Yet that duty has been undermined by economic corruption and a profit-driven motive that justifies planned obsolescence and widespread exploitation.

🌾 Harvesting Wisdom for Posterity

As in the Parable of the Wheat and Tares, the time has come to harvest history and knowledge. We must:

• Inventory what is Right and what is Detrimental
• Eliminate harmful practices (but never forget them)
• Prepare the soil for humanity’s future

Our global heritage demands it.

Organizations like The Zeitgeist Movement and The Venus Project are raising awareness and proposing sustainable models for planetary well-being.

🕊️ Universal Wisdom

“Behold! The Kingdom of God is within you.”

• Buddhism’s Eightfold Path offers eight integrated ways of living with purpose.
• Confucianism teaches that we cannot live fully in the present without honoring the past.
• Sethian Gnosticism and Platonic tradition affirm that salvation is self-actualized and always within reach.