“In God we trust” became our nation’s motto in 1956, was affirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2006, and was reaffirmed by the U.S. House by an overwhelming vote of 396 to 9 in 2011. Also, the motto–the origin of which likely came from the lyrics of our national anthem–has also appeared on our nation’s currency in some form since the mid-1800s.
Over the last few months, a number of law enforcement departments have placed decals with the words “In God we trust” on their vehicles. But this has motivated some atheist groups [edit: or perhaps more accurately, “anti-theist” groups, as pointed out in the comments] to complain to these departments, and one of the groups hopes to be able to take legal action against the “offending” officers at some point.
The trend of placing stickers of the U.S. motto on bumpers and elsewhere on vehicles used by law enforcement has been happening since at least March of this year, which is when the sheriff of Alcorn County, Mississippi, placed the sticker on the front bumper of a department SUV after taking it in for repairs.
The Associated Press/Daily Mail reported that some law enforcement departments are putting the “In God we trust” motto on their cars to show their appreciation of America.
Mark Nichols, the sheriff of Randolph County, Missouri, said he had it added to his department’s fleet in July out of a sense of patriotism.
‘It’s our nation’s motto and we want to be patriotic toward our country,’ Nichols said.
He said the Missouri Sheriff’s Association previously voted to support adding ‘In God We Trust’ to sheriff’s vehicles across the state.
Other departments, such as the police chief of Cave City, AR, are putting the decals on their vehicles because they believe the motto is a sorely needed spiritual reminder in the face of growing anti-police sentiment.
Police Chief Nathan Stephens said he first saw the quote on the Stone County Police Department’s vehicles and decided it was time to put it on theirs.
“And if there has ever been a time where the police departments need to trust in God I believe it is right now,” Stephens said. “Of course there are all these news stories about Ferguson and Baltimore and I have personally been in a firefight and when you come out of one of those you know you’re trusting in God.”
Stephens said he has spoken with other police chiefs around Sharp County who are considering putting the quote on their cars as well.
Chief Stephens said that the overall feedback from the community has been great.
The majority of feedback toward the decals on LEO and other emergency responder vehicles seems to have been positive in most communities where they’ve been applied. However, people who live outside of these communities are compelled to feel offended by the motto of the United States appearing on cars they’ll likely never encounter.
The atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), based in Madison, Wisconsin (no surprise), has sent letters of complaint to at least 29 of these departments in 10 different states, claiming that “it is frightening and politically dubious” for law enforcement officers to tell the citizens that their departments “rely on the judgment of a deity rather than on the judgment of the law.” The FFRF says, “[C]itizens should not be made to feel offended, excluded, and like political outsiders because the local government they support with their taxes oversteps its power by prominently placing a religious statement” on police and sheriff’s vehicles.
Co-president of the FFRF Dan Barker told the Blaze:
“We can’t predict what we’ll do next,” he said. “Even if we wanted to sue we have to have a plaintiff there who’s willing to sign on.”
But he added, “We would love to sue over a case like this.”
Barker did reveal that there is an unnamed atheist police officer in an undisclosed location who reached out to the Freedom From Religion Foundation to express his discontent over the fact that he is driving an official vehicle that has an “In God We Trust” bumper sticker.
If he would be willing to come forward and be a plaintiff, then we would go to court and sue,” he said.
So that’s one cop who’s intolerant of driving his public vehicle with the word “God” on it. Is it really worth it for him and the FFRF to sue over it? Maybe they should throw away all of their cash, too.
And in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, a group of atheists of untold number didn’t react so well to cops placing “In God we trust” decals on their vehicles.
A group of people in Mt Vernon met on Saturday in Mt. Vernon to protest after the words “In GOD we trust” were added to the back of the Jefferson County Sheriff Department’s squad cars in August.
The event was organized by the southern Illinois Atheists, and was held on the outskirts of Mt. Vernon in Jefferson Co.
Attendees say they often fall victim to religious discrimination both in the workplace, and at home.
A few of them said the goal is to raise awareness and eventually have the stickers removed.
Organizer Rob Johnston quoted religious freedom all Americans are promised in the first amendment, and called the stickers an ‘open form of discrimination’ that “does nothing but divide residents.”
They “often fall victim to religious discrimination” at home and at work? I don’t quite understand that one, but okay.
After getting a scolding letter from the FFRF, Sheriff Michael Adkinson of Walton County, Florida, wasn’t going to take any grief from some out-of-state yahoos. He offered some stern words to the atheists who–like the Wicked Witch does with water–seem to melt when coming into contact with public references to God. In his return letter to the FFRF, Sheriff Adkinson wrote:
I respect and appreciate the religious convictions or lack thereof of all citizens. I will continue to dutifully enforce the law and protect the rights of all parties, regardless of my personal opinions, as I have for my last 23 years in law enforcement. I see absolutely no conflict in this matter. You are obviously unaware that “in God we trust “ is the state motto of the state of Florida, and has been since 1886. This was reaffirmed in 2006. Additionally, it is the motto of the United States. I would also point out that the motto is inside the badge that has been on the side of our vehicles since the inception of marked patrol cars. As far as the use of tax payer money, I am very proud to say that although it was my intention to pay for them personally and that numerous sheriff’s office members wanted to contribute; a local business has asked to provide them… I will not debate the merit of your understanding of constitutional law in regard to this matter. Suffice it to say that I am very aware of the parameters in which our office should operate. We diligently strive to provide principled, fair and professional services (law enforcement as well as other community based services). The disdain of a small minority should never absent legitimate grievance, take precedence over the majority. Therefor in this issue I am unwilling to compromise.
If the Freedom From Religion Foundation wishes us to take them off our vehicles I suggest that they get a Judge’s order or a new Sheriff.
But the Freedom From Religion Foundation insists this is an issue that directly relates to the separation of church and state. Others disagree. Via the AP/Daily Mail article:
Rebecca Markert, a senior staff attorney for the foundation, said the First Amendment prohibits government from establishing or even preferring a religion. The growing number of law enforcement agencies adding the phrase to vehicles amounts to a violation of separation of church and state, she said. …
“The Bill of Rights was passed to protect minority rights against the tyranny of the majority,” she said.
Jeremy Dys, senior counsel for the Texas-based Liberty Institute, a law firm that specializes in issues of religious liberty, said the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts have repeatedly allowed the phrase and other religious overtures as “part of the country’s history and heritage.”
This is why courtroom oaths are protected along with legislative prayers, the Pledge of Allegiance and other acts steeped in religious symbolism, he said.
One Christian-based organization has come forward to say they would help any departments that might face legal challenges by atheist groups.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, a Washington, D.C.-based group, has now reached out to the 17 law enforcement agencies encouraging them not to remove the decals and offering legal assistance.
“We write to inform you that it does not violate the First Amendment for your team to continue displaying the national motto on department vehicles and to offer our legal assistance if FFRF or any other atheist group threatens your department with litigation over the use of ‘In God We Trust,’” the alliance wrote in letters to each agency.
“Americans should not be forced to abandon their heritage simply to appease the animosity of anti-religious groups toward anything that references God,” said Matt Sharp, legal counsel with ADF. “These departments should simply ignore the unfounded demands from these groups, especially since courts have upheld the national motto in a wide variety of other contexts for decades.”
As for my thoughts on this matter, I would say that as long as the majority of communities where these departments operate don’t have a problem with seeing these decals with America’s motto stuck on their public vehicles, there shouldn’t be a problem for people outside of those communities. This is what democracy looks like, right?
Also, why would an officer of the law ignore the laws he or she has sworn to uphold simply because someone may not believe in a higher power? How often does something like a citizen’s possible status as a non-believer come up during a traffic stop or a cop’s response to a call? Why would anything change once a cop puts a sticker on a vehicle?
And seeing as most if not all of these inexpensive stickers have been paid through private funds and donations, there’s no cost to the taxpayers.
The FFRF tried to say that applying the stickers was wasting time, and ergo tax dollars, but how long does it take to apply a sticker? And who says the officers didn’t apply them when they were on break or off-duty? At least a couple of the accounts I read alluded to them doing so during such times. So that line of argument doesn’t…stick, either.
As long as “In God we trust” remains our nation’s motto, the aggrieved anti-deists had better get used to seeing those four words.
Oh, that’s right, they already do. Quite often. One last reminder:
