WASHINGTON, DC, Sep 7 — Here’s a timely reminder from the great state of Texas where the buffalo roam and American patriotism still rules: In God we Trust. Actually, there are no buffaloes in Texas, although they do have a herd of bison at Caprock Canyons State Park in the panhandle. But the Lone Star State does have a new law that requires schools — elementary schools to institutions of higher learning — to display that motto prominently.
State Senator Bryan Hughes, co-author of the legislation, says it is a “national motto [that] asserts our collective trust in a sovereign God.” Public funds will not be used to produce the “In God we Trust” plaques. They’re being provided by private companies and organizations. For example, the Epoch Times reports that the Texas cell phone company, Patriot Mobile, was one of the first donors to come forward. “These framed posters have our nation’s motto…combined with our nation’s and state’s flags as specified and authorized by this law…[we are] proud to be a part of having our nation’s motto hung in our public schools. Our mission is to passionately defend our God-given, Constitutional rights and freedoms, and to glorify God always.”
Many other companies and organizations are participating in the drive to produce and distribute the patriotic plaques. But, of course, there are the naysayers who say that “if they are allowed to put up signs like this there should be no reasons that other students or people can’t put up signs that have different messaging,” as one disgruntled Texan put it.
However, an anonymous post on social media noted that “the heartwarming efforts of our brethren in Texas to inspire national pride comes at a time in history when too many people who call themselves Americans have become decidedly un-American.”
It was President Dwight D. Eisenhower who, in 1956, signed the law that made “In God We Trust” the official motto of the U.S. And in the ensuing years it has come under fire as has the two words in the Pledge of Allegiance, ‘Under God,” which was also signed into law by President Eisenhower two years earlier in 1954.
Back in 2002 the very liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance was “unconstitutional” due to the phrase “Under God.” The Washington Times, at the time, quoted Judge Ferdinand F. Fernandez, who was appointed to the court by the first President Bush. Fernandez “dissented in an opinion that predicted ‘God Bless America’ and ‘America The Beautiful’ also face bans in public places along with the third stanza of the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ and U.S. currency bearing the words In God We Trust.”
The Supreme Court, just two years later, reinstated the phrase. But that did not suppress the naysayers who seek to do away with God.
According to The Hill, “Forty-seven states in the U.S. require the Pledge of Allegiance be recited in public schools, with varying exemptions for students or staff who wish to opt out. The 1943 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, West Virginia V. Barnette, determined that no school or government can compel someone to recite the Pledge of Allegiance or salute the flag.”
The Hill article describes a variety of nuanced requirements that have been adopted by states as regards the Pledge of Allegiance. Some states that officially require the pledge might not actually provide direct oversight of the rule. Others might simply tell students that they don’t have to participate in reciting the pledge. And then there are those that simply make the pledge a voluntary procedure.
‘’GOD BLESS TEXAS!!! Thankfully we have at least ONE State out of 50 that is Not Afraid to Stand Up for what We All should be saying. For what they are going through with the “Open” Border in their State, they surely need God’s help.
“In God we trust” does not designate which god, or whose. And those non-believers can feel free to ignore it. They should not be able to dictate how the rest of us believe.
You have problem with Pledge of Allegiance get out and stay out
To have citizens who are positive and patriotic about their country is as fundamental to the survival of the country as oxygen is to the survival of the human body. The US can’t survive in a dysfunctional condition of division and hate. Eventually, there will be so little harmony that our country will totally implode. When that happens, most of the disgruntled pessimists will have something to truly be negative about. Our politicians should be cheerleaders for our country, no matter what their political and social beliefs and opinions. All of our politicians should be for improving our great country, not stupidly tearing it down. We have so many unfit politicians who have no business being politicians that a thinking man can easily get whiplash from shaking one’s head in disgust.
The motto may have been signed into law by President Eisenhower in 1956, but it has been our motto since in 1814 it was stated by Francis Scott Key in “The Star Spangled Banner.” “And this be our motto, ‘in God is our trust'”
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If a student has a problem with reciting the pledge, simply escort him or her to the hall and allow them to stand silently alone while others participate in the classroom. I get that there is a freedom issue with standing for our flag or reciting the pledge. As a Veteran and a patriot, I will defend that freedom not to participate, but will not allow one or two people to disrupt a patriotic assembly of the majority. If they are not allowed to make a**es of themselves in the classroom, pretty soon they will get the message.
If you worry about what people think of you because you say the pledge or salute the flag you may want to see actual cost this freedom .The thousands that died on Omaha beach or hill 875 in Viet Nam. When you put your friends in body bags then you see the cost.Those protected by others will never know what true patriots willingly gave their life for. November is last chance for America. Vote for our country and childrens future.