The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s Senior Policy Counsel Ryan Jayne recently had an op-ed published in the Madison, Wis., daily newspaper detailing a dangerous legislative measure to impose dogma on public schools.
“Like a cruel joke, after voting to drain public-school funds to support private-school vouchers, Sen. Cory Tomczyk, R-Mosinee, and Reps. Joy Goeben, R-Hobart, and Nate Gustafson, R-Fox Crossing, are attempting to literally put ‘God’ into Wisconsin public school classrooms,” Jayne writes in a column in the Wisconsin State Journal. “Forcing public schools to display the McCarthy-era motto ‘In God We Trust’ is an unfunded mandate that will cause great and unnecessary expense to public schools. The bill would require a framed poster (or an inscription on a wall) of at least 11 by 14 inches in every classroom.”
Jayne elaborates on the true, far more sinister intent of bills like these and the agenda they’re hiding behind them:
Our nation’s original motto, “E Pluribus Unum” (From many [come] one), chosen by a committee of Jefferson, Franklin and Adams, not only honored our federal and state form of government, but also celebrated America’s strength in its diversity. “In God We Trust,” on the other hand, was adopted in 1956 at the height of the Cold War when members of Congress were desperate to distance themselves from “godless” communists.
It dishonors the foundational principle of separation between state and church, rooted in a godless Constitution whose only references to religion are exclusionary. America isn’t supposed to force a religious litmus test. We are free to believe in a god, multiple gods or none at all.
Mandating the posting of “In God We Trust” in every public building and classroom disenfranchises those of us who are not religious. Notably, the “nones” (atheists, agnostics and nothing in particulars) today comprise the single largest religious identification at almost 3 out of every 10 Americans, according to the Pew Research Center. Among young people, one study suggests as many as 47% today profess no religion. So “In God We Trust” isn’t even accurate. To be accurate, it would need to say “In God Some of us Trust,” which would be a silly motto.
The proposal also violates Article I, Section 18 of the Wisconsin Constitution, which forbids the state from interfering with the rights of conscience or showing any preference by law to any religious establishments or modes of worship. Article X, Section 3 of our state Constitution also forbids any sectarian instruction, clearly underlining that whether to engage in religious worship or belief should be the purview of parents, not public schools.
Years ago, several Christian nationalist groups banded together to push for state bills promoting religion under the ominous Germanic moniker “Project Blitz.” The overarching goal of Project Blitz is to legislate Christianity, starting with seemingly innocuous laws, such as the posting of the national motto, and progressing to laws that privilege the Christian majority, often by portraying it as a persecuted minority. Project Blitz is Christian nationalism masquerading as religious liberty, and this bill is the first bill listed in the Project Blitz playbook.
Jayne finishes the piece with a strong message of support for public schools: “Wisconsin must reject this effort, which starts by renouncing this bad bill. Instead of proposing unfunded religious mandates, lawmakers should concentrate on giving public schools the support they deserve and desperately need.”
You can read the full op-ed here.
This column is part of FFRF’s initiative to engage with pertinent national and state issues and spread the messages of freethought and nontheism to a broader audience.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national state/church watchdog based in Madison, Wis., has over 42,000 nonreligious members and several chapters all over the country, including more than 1,600 members and a chapter in Wisconsin. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
