The United States of America is known as a Christian nation, but over the years, that idea has been threatened and questioned.
Now, an atheist group is even trying to remove "In God We Trust" from the American dollar.
Sacramento attorney Michael Newdow filed the lawsuit to have the line removed on Monday in Akron, Ohio, claiming that it violates the separation of church and state. He added that he is "substantially burdened because he is forced to bear on his person a religious statement that causes him to sense his government legitimising, promoting and reinforcing negative and injurious attitudes not only against atheists in general, but against him personally."
Reverend Franklin Graham thinks that Newdow's lawsuit was "not a smart move" because taking God out of the equation would put America at great risk.
"I wonder if these people realise just what can and will happen to a nation — and a people — who want nothing to do with Almighty God or His hand of protection?" he writes on his Facebook page.
The evangelist said former President Dwight D. Eisenhower must have known, since it was during his leadership that the words were first added to U.S. coins. On July 30, 1956, Eisenhower signed a law officially declaring "In God We Trust" to be America's official motto.
"There isn't a better one," reflects Graham. "Should a handful of people — 41 atheists in this case — be able to change what has been the backbone of a nation for generations? I certainly hope not. The Bible says, 'Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God' (Psalm 20:7)."
