Bill would require Mississippi public schools to display 'In God We Trust'

By The Associated Press

03.11.01

Printer-friendly page

JACKSON, Miss. — If students can't pray over public school intercoms, they should see a reference to a supreme being in their classrooms every day, some Mississippi lawmakers say.

A bill under consideration in the state Legislature would require the slogan "In God We Trust" to be displayed in every public classroom in Mississippi.

It's the latest push for public expression of religion in a state that has witnessed school prayer battles in recent years.

"We need to get back to some acknowledgment of God as much as we can and visit with them about having it acknowledged in school," Rep. Gary Chism, R-Columbus, said last week.

Supporters say they believe the slogan could withstand a court challenge because it was adopted as the national motto in 1956 and appears on U.S. coins.

Opponents say displaying the motto in public schools would violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on government establishment of religion.

Jackson lawyer Jane Hicks, state vice president of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the mandate could prompt a lawsuit.

"I think these kind of establishment clause violations that involve children and schools are of particular concern," Hicks said. "Children are more likely (than adults) to be influenced by statements by the government."

In the past few years, school-prayer disputes in Jackson and Pontotoc gained national attention. The U.S. Supreme Court, in a Texas case last June, banned prayers over loudspeaker systems before public school football games. The decision sparked reaction in Mississippi, where some groups called for "spontaneous" pre-game prayer.

The "In God We Trust" requirement was added last week to a bill to allow a moment of quiet reflection in Mississippi public classrooms. The moment of reflection would be optional; the slogan would be mandatory.

The bill, House Bill 51, could get more debate as the legislative session continues.

Representatives of the Tupelo-based American Family Association last year gave Mississippi legislators and other public officials 11-by-14 inch "In God We Trust" posters, with the word GOD in large red letters. Several lawmakers display the framed posters in their Capitol offices.

On the AFA's Web site, the group's national president, the Rev. Donald Wildmon, wrote that AFA developed the poster in reaction to U.S. Supreme Court decisions that banned prayer and other religious expressions in public schools. He wrote that he wants to "give the ACLU fits."

"The ACLU and liberal judges may not allow the posting of the Ten Commandments, but they cannot prohibit the posting of our national motto," Wildmon wrote.

Sen. Alan Nunnelee, a Republican from AFA's home base of Tupelo, is a primary sponsor of the effort to post the slogan in all public classrooms, kindergarten through 12th grade.

"Our nation was founded upon a belief that we were guided by an almighty God," Nunnelee said.

Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Alice Harden, D-Jackson, said requiring display of the slogan is an unfunded mandate. Lawmakers haven't tried to provide any money to buy posters or plaques.

Harden also said: "You have to be very careful that the government isn't mandating any religious preference."

Mississippi AFA president Mike Crook said AFA didn't ask Nunnelee to sponsor the "In God We Trust" legislation, but it backs the effort. He said the slogan is a reminder of "where our nation gets its strength."

"After all, we are a Christian nation, founded by Christian people for Christians," Crook said.

Christian denominations are the largest religious groups in Mississippi, but the state is also home to Jews, Hindus, Muslims and people of other faiths.

Chism said he doesn't think religious diversity would present problems with displaying "In God We Trust" in classrooms. As for how nonreligious people might react to the slogan, Chism said: "I don't think we're asking them to pray to it."

McComb High School Principal George Jordan said he thinks students and teachers would "respond favorably" to displaying "In God We Trust."

He said McComb High recently had a Christian assembly during school hours. Attendance was voluntary, and four of about 800 students opted to sit in the school office rather than attend, Jordan said.

Jordan said he would abide by the Constitution, and he worries that a lawsuit over posting "In God We Trust" would be distracting.

"We wouldn't want to do anything to cause disruption into the learning process," Jordan said. "You and I both know we have the ACLU and we have those out there who are contrary to school prayer."