Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

July 2001 – If it's OK to put it on our money, it's OK to put it on the walls of our nation's classrooms. That's the approach AFA is taking to the national motto, "In God we trust," emblazoned on posters being made available to every school in the country.

Mississippi became the first state in the U.S. to require that the national motto be posted in its public school classrooms, cafeterias, and auditoriums. Through the generosity of AFA supporters, nearly 32,000 AFA posters will be distributed statewide free of charge to schools.

"We believe the national motto incorporates the foundational belief of our culture, and its words 'In God we trust' are a message our children need to see in school," said AFA president Donald E. Wildmon. "Mississippi has taken the first step, now we want to do the same thing in more than 1.5 million public school classrooms across America."

The Mississippi law, which Wildmon said could be used as a model for any state in the country, reads: "Principals and teachers in each public elementary and secondary school of each school district in this state shall display on an appropriately framed background with minimum dimensions of 11 inches by 14 inches, the following motto of the United States of America in each classroom, school auditorium and school cafeteria under his or her supervision: 'In God we trust.'"

Wildmon recommends that people contact their state representatives and governor and ask that a similar measure be passed in their states.

Certain that the national campaign will stir resistance from groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Wildmon said states can rely on help from AFA's Center for Law & Policy.

"While I expect the ACLU will try to bully and intimidate public schools to keep them from displaying the national motto, AFA is ready to fight them face-to-face," Wildmon said. "The Center for Law & Policy will defend any state against ACLU lawsuits free of charge. That's how strongly we feel about this campaign."

Earlier this year a U. S. District judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of two Topeka women against Rita Cline of Shawnee County, Kansas. Cline, the county treasurer, hung an "In God We Trust" poster in her office. The ACLU argued that Cline could not hang the poster on state property because it promoted her religious beliefs.

However, the judge saw the situation differently, calling the lawsuit "patently frivolous without any basis
in the law."