In Ohio, candidates in the upcoming May 2 primary continue to affirm their religious credentials to fundamentalist Christians. (See prior posting.) In the latest example, reported by the Associated Press on Thursday, State Auditor Betty Montgomery, who is a Republican candidate for state Attorney General, has taken out an ad in a newspaper distributed by Fairfield Christian Church, the congregation of Ohio Restoration Project leader Rev. Russell Johnson. The ad features Montgomery standing on the Seal of Ohio outside the State House. She is in front of the state motto, "With God all Things Are Possible". The motto is inscribed in the bronze flatwork outside the State House. The ad’s tagline: "Betty Montgomery has fought all the way to the top to protect our values." In today’s Toledo Blade, columnist Russ Lemon reports that Montgomery is also incorporating the state motto into her latest radio ads.
By the way, the state motto, taken from the New Testament (Matthew 19:26), was upheld against an Establishment Clause attack in an en banc U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in 2001. The source of the motto does not appear in the version outside the State House. This link will take you to a photo of the motto as it appears on the State House plaza.
