the inclusion of "in god we trust" and "under god" is only a relatively recent change. while "in god we trust" was printed on money since the civil war, it wasn't formally codified into being printed in the money until the cold war i think. and i know that "under god" was added during the cold war era.

why were both added? because the government FEAR!ed the country into being scared of the red commie ba$tard pigs. there isn't any reason for both phrases to remain in use by the government now. the reason they haven't come down is because the religious right wing idiots (focus on the family types) own the republican party and some in the democratic party and trying to remove the language would be considered anti-god. you wouldn't want to be called a dirty baby eating godless ATHEIST would you?

(as an aside, this is one of the reasons why i think that atheists are the least trusted group of people in america by far. the government may not recognize a religion per se, but does recognize "god". many people will connect that to the christian god and for all appearances, it looks like the government is recognizing a religion without recognizing a religion. go back to e pluribus unum i say.)