Red State Requires “In God We Trust” To Be Displayed In All Public Schools
A red state in the South passed, in the summer of 2023, legislation that aims to bring its classrooms back from woke ideology and fringe theories towards a more God-centered atmosphere. In recent years, teachers have taken more liberties in terms of pushing their own narratives on students via classroom decorations, posters, etc., often to the chagrin of some parents.
Now, in Louisiana, the state is requiring “In God We Trust” to be displayed in every public classroom. The law, HB 8, went into effect the first week of August 2023, just in time for the upcoming school year in the Bayou State. It is a welcome step in the right direction for public classrooms.
According to the new legislation, each public school classroom “shall display the national motto in each building it uses and classroom in each school under its jurisdiction.” The state has also set firm guidelines on where and how the motto is to be displayed in terms of size and composition.
Undoubtedly, if standards weren’t set regarding size, many teachers or schools that didn’t feel compelled to follow the law would simply hide the national motto somewhere in each room just to be compliant technically. That won’t be the case in Louisiana.
The law outlines the standards as follows: “The nature of the display shall be determined by each governing authority with a minimum requirement that the national motto shall be displayed on a poster or framed document that is at least eleven inches by fourteen inches. The motto shall be the central focus of the poster or framed document and shall be printed in a large, easily readable font.”
In order to shut down the inevitable complaint about school funds being used for anything related to God, the law was also written so as not to compel schools to use money earmarked for their budget. Instead, money for the signs, or even the signs themselves, can be donated by church groups, citizens, or other like-minded organizations. The bill was signed into law back in June, shockingly by Democrat Governor John Bel Edwards. Despite the Governor being a Democrat, he recognized the will of the people and the growing conservative movement nationwide in terms of returning God’s name in the national motto back into civic life.
Louisiana joins a growing list of states that are determined to return our national motto back into the public eye, at least where public facilities are involved. Florida, Arkansas, South Dakota, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Texas have all passed similar laws. While it seems like a small, innocuous gesture, many have railed against the display of anything related to God in public spaces over the years. Anti-religious activists have for years claimed that the motto’s official use by the U.S. infringes against citizens with different beliefs.
However, considering the vast majority of American citizens have a religious affiliation, and the nation was built on religious freedom, it should not be a controversial decision to display the national motto in public. Couple that with the fact that “In God We Trust” is written on every piece of paper currency, which, not shockingly, anti-religious groups have no issue taking and spending, and we have an easy decision. Return the national motto to all public spaces, and begin to shift this country back to sanity.
