Some public schools in Alabama may join schools in Tennessee to be the stuff of atheists’ nightmares. The Alabama schools want to erect displays featuring the phrase, “In God We Trust.”
Republican State Rep. David Standridge sponsored the original legislation permitting public bodies to display the “In God We Trust” motto. In February, state legislators passed legislation permitting the schools to follow through on their plans. The Alabama law was implemented on July 1.
Blount County Superintendent Rodney Green said the county could draft a policy forwarding the idea as early as September, as AL.com reported.
Green, who presides over a school system with roughly 8,000 students, stated, “You would think that something that passes the Legislature won’t be challenged in the courtroom but we all know that it can and probably will.”
Annie Laurie Gaylord, co-president of the Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation, complained, “It’s a tsunami of Christian national laws in our country right now. … The upcoming election will say a lot about the direction of our nation. With the Republicans in charge of Congress and so many of these states, we are seeing a constant push for theocracy.”
In March, Tennessee passed a bill requiring all public schools to post “In God We Trust.”