In the past the Supreme Court has upheld the placing of our national motto “In God We Trust” on coins. Dicta in Lynch v. Donnelly is often pointed to. Justice O’Connor justified the practice because the history and ubiquity of the motto on our coins means that its use there is not understood as a government endorsement of religion. Justice Brennan described the motto as “ceremonial Deism”, words that through their rote repetition have lost any significant religious content. However today this precedent is often being over-read.
I would suggest that the Supreme Court’s language does not give the government totally free rein to use the words of the motto when the intent and effect is to in fact promote religion. (see related posting) This idea was driven home by an obscure story in yesterday’s Anderson SC Independent-Mail. It reported that in two neighboring Georgia counties, “In God We Trust” will soon be hanging in school classrooms. The Hebron Baptist Association bought over 500 copies of the motto and gave them to school districts. The superintendent in one of the districts said that she is “glad this is something that the school system can do.”
This is not a new idea. Some time ago, the American Family Association began a national campaign to get the national motto hung in every school classroom in the country. It said it would be “a reminder of the historic centrality of God in the life of our republic”. A number of states have enacted laws specifically permitting the posting of the motto in classrooms. In this context, the motto does not seem to have lost religious content. If it had, why would churches be so intent on funding its posting? In today’s context, the posting of these words is decidedly seen as an endorsement of religion. Holdings, not to mention dicta, in opinions need to be read contextually, and not latched onto with strict literalism as a pretext to violate the spirit of the Constitution’s Establishment Clause.
