Hats off to SD! ‘In God We Trust’

The above headline was a message we received from a friend of ours in Florida last week after news of the new South Dakota school law hit the national media waves. The new law was passed by the Legislature this past session and signed into law by Gov. Kristi Noem. It takes effect the beginning of this school year and requires the motto “In God We Trust” to be displayed prominently in an easily readable form in all state public schools.
It says a lot about our society today when something like this makes national news. Until not too long ago, the Bible was THE main textbook used in our public schools up until pioneer days. Prayer and the Bible started coming under attack through our courts in the early 1960s. In 1962 the U.S. Supreme Court prohibited officially sponsored prayer in schools in Engel vs. Vitale. Then in another ruling just a year later, the High Court took another giant step backwards, in our opinion, when it ruled in Abington vs. Schempp that official Bible reading in American public schools was unconstitutional. 
Think about that ruling for a second. Our nation was founded on Christian principles by people who crossed the ocean to flee from religious persecution. These same people established public schools in which the Bible was the only text book used by teachers. In 1980 the Supremes struck down a Kentucky state law that mandated the Ten Commandments be displayed on the walls of state public schools, which became the law of the land.
An argument can be made that since God was kicked out of public school classrooms, our nation has been in a steady downward spiral of moral decay. Many of our communities and cities are a mess today because of leaders who lack any kind of moral compass. Simply placing signs in our South Dakota public schools will not turn things around, but it is a start. Perhaps other states will follow.
The S.D. law requires the signs be at least 12 inches square and be displayed in prominent locations like entryways and common areas like cafeterias. According to the way the law is written, the signs can be on a plaque or be a part of student artwork approved by the school’s principal. If any public school district or school board is sued because of these sign displays, the state’s attorney general will represent them at no cost to the school district. 
“In God We Trust” is found on all U.S. currency and was inscribed on coins as early as 1864. It was adopted as our nation’s motto in 1956 after passage of a bill signed into law by President Eisenhower. The motto can be found on many of our public buildings in Washington, D.C.
It’s not a giant step, but maybe through the implementation of this state law, God can get his foot through the door of South Dakota’s schools, and perhaps, national public schools. It’s one small step anyway, and we should be proud our state is leading the way.
 

Category:

User login