A few Sundays ago, a 93-year-old Christian gentleman attended a discussion, sponsored by Humanists of the Treasure Coast, regarding a proposal from Florida legislators to mandate the posting of “In God We Trust” on public school buildings. This gentleman suggested the posting would motivate children to be more ethical and that “In God We Trust” has always been our nation’s motto.
The facts are “E pluribus unum” (from many one) was considered the United States motto until 1956 when Congress adopted “In God We Trust” as the official motto. There is also no evidence that children from religious families are more ethical than children from secular humanist, atheist or agnostic families.
If we require the placement of “In God We Trust” on all public school buildings, students from families that don’t find any evidence for the existence of a God would see their family’s beliefs undermined every time they entered a school building. To be fair, would we then allow posting “There Is No God” on other buildings to placate the non-theists?
According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 23 percent of Americans describe themselves as non-religious. That’s millions of Americans, and the number grows with every survey.
While posting religious slogans and prayers seems acceptable to some, it’s offensive to others — as New York Board of Regents officials learned decades ago when they proposed the following prayer to be read in public schools: “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence on thee, and we beg thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country.”
Parents from Jewish, Ethical Culture and some Christian religions, joined spiritual (but not religious) parents to file a lawsuit challenging the prayer. They argued school prayer violates the Establishment Clause of the Constitution, which states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
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