The Freedom From Religion Foundation has persuaded an Ohio county commissioner to remove religion from her official email signature.
Crawford County Commissioner Jenny Vermillion used two inappropriate signature lines in her county email address. The first of these was a reference to an Old Testament verse, Jeremiah 1:5, along with the politically charged commentary “Choose LIFE!!” (The actual verse reads: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”) The second was a President Eisenhower quote that promotes religion and disparages atheists.
“The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits government sponsorship of religious messages,” FFRF Legal Fellow Ryan Jayne reminded Crawford County commissioners in a March letter. “The U.S. Supreme Court has said time and again that the ‘First Amendment mandates government neutrality between religion and religion, and between religion and nonreligion.’ This principle is violated when a government employee promotes religious messages on behalf of the county.”
Besides, FFRF pointed out, Vermillion’s signature lines were politically charged and discriminatory, in violation of county policy. The statement “Choose LIFE!!” along with the Jeremiah 1:5 reference sent a clear anti-abortion message. And the other quote directly disparaged atheists.
FFRF requested that Vermillion delete all these references from her e-mail signature.
And she indeed did. In a terse but to-the-point letter a few days ago, Vermillion replied: “Dear Sir or Madame, It has been removed.”
FFRF commends her change of heart.
“County commissioners should not be endorsing religion or taking discriminatory and contentious political stances in their official correspondence,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Vermillion should have known this right from the start of her tenure, but better late than never.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to separation of state and church, with nearly 24,000 nonreligious members across the country, including more than 600 in Ohio. Ohio is an annual “top ten” offender in FFRF’s list of the states with the most state/church violations.
