I smell the FFRF

January 15, 2015 • 11:16 am

Could Dan Barker, Annie Laurie Gaylor, or one of their heathen minions have defaced this bill, taken from an ATM in Madison, Wisconsin, which just happens to be the home of the Freedom from Religion Foundation? After all, every year the FFRF raffles off “clean” money—bills produced before “In God We Trust” was added to U.S. currency in 1957.

From a tw**t by David Ohlén:

Screen Shot 2015-01-11 at 2.39.14 PM

I don’t think it’s illegal to write on a bill like this, so I favor everyone making these alterations.

Oh, and the FFRF just gave $20,000 to Charlie Hebdo as an “Atheist in Foxholes” award. Good on them!

h/t: Matthew Cobb

37 thoughts on “I smell the FFRF”

  2. The law states that you cannot deface money with the intent to defraud. Since there’s no intent to defraud (even less with the substitution of science for god) there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this.

    1. I’m sure someone will claim it defrauds God of his money. Remember, while it may be a ceremonial invocation in the courtroom, it’s a real, powerful, and meaningful nonceremonial invocation out of the courtroom.

      1. People deface money all the time. From “Happy Birthday!” to stamps from MoveToAmend. org against Citizens United, to an atheist who used an hand punch and punched out “GOD” on $300 worth of single dollar bills for several months.

        But for the truly serious, go to Where’s George. com, a site of committed people who track where a single dollar can travel. They can answer your questions.

  3. Never realized how god dropped in by the 1950s. The Pledge added the “in god we trust” business in 1954. All republican years as well.

    1. Yeah but the parties weren’t exactly the same. Eisenhower (the President who approved ths change) was the person who coined the term “military-industrial complex” because he thought it was a horrible evil that needed to be stamped out.

    2. It was the red scare that did it. A good example of how it’s not always prudent to show you are opposite to your nemesis in every way.

  4. Good idea but I never use cash. And like Gideon’s bibles it is hard to remember to bring my sharpies and write on the cover: “Science rocks, lose the gods.”

  6. Seems legal:

    DEFACEMENT OF CURRENCY:

    Defacement of currency is a violation of Title 18, Section 333 of the United States Code. Under this provision, currency defacement is generally defined as follows: Whoever mutilates, cuts, disfigures, perforates, unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, Federal Reserve Bank, or Federal Reserve System, with intent to render such item(s) unfit to be reissued, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

    Defacement of currency in such a way that it is made unfit for circulation comes under the jurisdiction of the United States Secret Service. The United States Secret Service web address is http://www.secretservice.gov.

    So you can’t….

    Mutilate
    Cut
    Disfigure
    Perforate
    Unite
    Cement together…

    ….currency. But it doesn’t say anything about “writing” on it. These are also all sort-of-wishy-wash terms.

    2. But it does say: “or does any other thing”.
      The important part is “with the intent to prevent such item to be re-issued”.

      1. So they don’t have to specifically say you can’t set it on fire. But if you tell USians they can’t burn money, what are they going to do?
        “This is Amurrka!”

    3. As with any law, what effect it has depends on how actual cases have been decided by the courts.

    4. But the key part is “with intent to render such item(s) unfit to be reissued”. Crossing out GOD certainly doesn’t render the money unusable.

  7. I prefer the form of a poorfeeder’s carat below and “NO” above between the words, “IN,” and, “GOD.”

    I don’t think Charlie Hebdo is hurting for cash, what with their extra-huge publication run and all, so it’ll be interesting to see what they do with the money. I imagine we’ll all be pleasantly surprised.

    b&

    1. Or simply just blot out “God” with a texta pen to render that word invisible – like god himself.

  8. I read a story long ago that once there was a coin misprinted, spelling “In Gold We Trust”.

    For my money, that story sounds a bit too good, however.

  9. Great idea
    What about writing:
    In “REASON” we trust
    In LOGIC WE TRUST
    IN RATIONALITY we trust?
    I plan to cash my next paycheck
    in small “unmarked ” bills. And grab a pen.

  10. There are more atheists in foxholes than in congress. Pretty amazing for a group that represents 20 percent of the population.

    If any other minority were so blatantly underrepresented in public life, there would be affirmative action court orders.

  13. I had a stamp made to leave the following imprint, CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW RESPECTING AN ESTABLISHMENT OF REIGION. Every bill passing through my possession gets this marked in blue directly over the “In God We Trust” Logo. I know I’m tilting at windmills, but it makes me feel better.

    I would have enjoyed posting a jpeg of it with this comment but haven’t figured out yet how to do it. Anyone?

  16. First, magicians have been writing on and tearing in halves currency for years and none have ever been prosecuted.

    Second, I do the same as above all the time.

    Third, the law says, “with intent to render such item(s) unfit to be reissued.” This would mean an intention to change the value of the mill. So write your message.

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