The atheist activist well-known for his efforts to remove the phrase "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance has now moved towards removing "In God we Trust" off the U.S. currency.
Michael Newdow, of Sacramento, Calif., is expected to file the federal lawsuit by the end of the week saying that the national motto is a "violation of the separation of church and state."
The Agence France-Presse reported Newdow saying that both the U.S. currency and the Pledge of Allegiance should be "fully secular" to reflect the U.S. constitution's division of church and state, and "to have all Americans treated equally by their government."
However, Christians groups have responded by saying that removing the reference is an infringement upon our Christian heritage.
The Great Commission Center International (GCCI) has responded by joining with the American Family Association (AFA) in urging Christians and supporters to sign a pledge that would protect our national heritage that is based on Christianity.
Rev. Thomas Wang, founder of GCCI said in a letter sent out to Chinese Christian organizations, churches and supporters that this new measure is an attempt to "progressively take away the Christian heritage of America and replace it with atheism."
In 2004, Newdow took his case to the U.S. Supreme Court over the Pledge of Allegiance, but it was overturned on the technicality that he did not have custody of his daughter. Then Newdow filed a similar case with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of two parents for their children, which is still being argued, but initially the Court ruled in favor of Newdow.
On Mon., in the case Lambeth v. Board of Commissioners of Davidson County, over the inscription of 18-inch block letters "In God we Trust" on a North Carolina government building, the Supreme Court declined to review the case.
"In this situation, the reasonable observer must be deemed aware of the patriotic uses, both historical and present, of the phrase 'In God We Trust,'" the Court ruled according to the Associated Press.
AFA is trying to gather 1 million signatures for a constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right to "recite the motto and the Pledge of Allegiance," which will encourage Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) to re-introduce a similar amendment that he presented last year to Congress and liberal judges of the Ninth U.S. Circuit.
Rev. Wang concluded in the letter saying, "We urge you to respond quickly as the Lord leads you to help keep this nation "under God."
