Ohio Wants God in Schools

May 20, 2004 8:10 AM

A bill currently under consideration in the Ohio General Assembly would force public schools to "display the official motto of the United States of America 'In God We Trust' and the official motto of Ohio 'With God, All Things Are Possible' in each classroom, auditorium, and cafeteria of each school building in the district." Ohio Public Radio reports here.
posted by Otis (30 comments total)

I, for one, welcome my jackbooted Christian overlords.

(What do you mean, they're already here...?)
posted by FormlessOne at 8:21 AM on May 20, 2004

Thank the Lord they have worked out all the other things that are wrong with their schools.
posted by Qubit at 8:25 AM on May 20, 2004

Thank the Lord I don't live in Ohio anymore.
posted by soyjoy at 8:28 AM on May 20, 2004

Thank the Lord nobody saw me leaving the apartment I burgled last night.
posted by dfowler at 8:31 AM on May 20, 2004

There's something surreal about arguing that the official national motto is inappropriate for... anywhere. But there it is. It's really a shame that the Christian Right seems not to care one whit about the principles this country was founded on. Just compare that motto to the old one.
posted by callmejay at 8:32 AM on May 20, 2004

'With God, All Things Are Possible'

Indeed. Including violating the constitution.
posted by falconred at 8:37 AM on May 20, 2004

"With God, all things are possible." - why does this sound like one of those hokey "New Age" slogans to me?


If these wimps were really serious, they'd vote to have those patriotic, Godly slogans branded on the foreheads of public school children. This works very well with cattle, I hear.

Then, they'd never forget God or country.

Ever.
posted by troutfishing at 8:39 AM on May 20, 2004

Just kidding.

Anyway......

"With ______ , all things are possible." : fill in the blank.


Tide.

Palmolive.

Viagra.

Crest.

Playtex mini-pads.
posted by troutfishing at 8:41 AM on May 20, 2004

A full eleven minutes passed before the word "jackbooted" came up. I'm impressed.

Bills like this come before state legislatures on almost a daily basis. They are promptly torpedoed, and the legislature moves on to real business. Why was this even posted? A "bill under consideration" has little more weight than "my last blog entry" unless there's some serious evidence that it's going to get passed.
posted by oissubke at 9:02 AM on May 20, 2004

*places Ohio on the list of crazy states*
posted by The God Complex at 9:06 AM on May 20, 2004

In the interview, Faber says it's not forcing this on anyone, that it's only designed to allow donated plaques to be placed in schools. Funny, there's no mention of donated plaques in the bill (or choice to decline)...

Do any other states do the same thing? That's the real test here. If Ohio is the only place this is an issue (or Arizona, South Dakota, or the wholly unimaginative Florida, and possibly Colorado), then it's a religious thing and all the "historical understanding" bullshit is a smokescreen.

I'd go for more states opting for this sort of thing, actually. Like Missouri (Salus populi suprema lex esto), North Carolina (Esse quam videri), and Virginia (Sic semper tyrannis). Or my home province's Munit haec et altera vincit. Glad I've got a cool one, although they're all basically meaningless. "By and by"? That's a motto?
posted by GhostintheMachine at 9:11 AM on May 20, 2004

i'll tell you what, i think the bill should get passed, based on the merits of law. these are official mottos, and as such, they should be allowed to be used in government functions.

now, the seperate issue is whether or not they should be used as mottos at all, and i don't think they should be. but damnit, i want my country to have a catchphrase.

metafilter: i want to be able to have a catchphrase.
america: god? we don't need no stinkin' god.
florida: motto? we don't need no stinkin' motto.
posted by taumeson at 9:15 AM on May 20, 2004

Taumeson -- Allowed it different than required, isn't it? That's the scariest part, that it has to be in just about every room in school, like an eye that is following you around.
posted by Hildago at 9:25 AM on May 20, 2004

GhostintheMachine: From the Impact Statement of the Bill: "The bill requires school districts and community schools to accept donated copies of the Ohio motto 'With God All Things Are Possible' and the United States motto 'In God We Trust' that are reasonable in size or money specifically donated for the purchase of such materials. School districts and community schools are required to display these donated mottoes in an appropriate manner in classrooms, auditoriums, or cafeterias within schools. Since materials are donated, the bill appears to have no direct costs on the state or school districts."
posted by Otis at 9:28 AM on May 20, 2004

These should not be slogans in any country that claims to separate church and state. In the same vein, I also wish there were no references to god in my national anthem (canadian), if only because it makes it seem trivial. Also, the fact that they use 'god' in our charter, which was only officially penned some twenty years ago, is mind-numbing.

Who cares about historical accuracy? Some things are better forgotten. "With God, All Things Are Possible' has to be one of the lamest excuses for a state/province slogan I've ever heard. At the very least, it should say "With Our God, Anything is Possible".
posted by The God Complex at 9:34 AM on May 20, 2004

Hey! We went 91 years with no motto at all. It's the best we (well a 12-year-old boy) could come up with.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

"Ohio adopted the motto in 1959 after a 12-year-old Cincinnati boy, Jim Mastronardo, suggested it and launched a petition drive. At the time, Ohio was the only U.S. state without an official motto.

The young man said at the time he didn't know the phrase came from the Bible. He said he first heard it from his mother, who repeated it often when he was a child. "
posted by Otis at 9:46 AM on May 20, 2004

In a more perfect union, legislators would make sure there was a copy of the Bill of Rights in every classroom.
posted by alphanerd at 9:50 AM on May 20, 2004

"...schools are required to display these donated mottoes in an appropriate manner..."


posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:12 AM on May 20, 2004

Dear SCOTUS,

Please spank me.

Love,

Ohio
posted by sequential at 10:41 AM on May 20, 2004

oissubke - and, almost two hours passed before the phrase - "scandalous bestiality involving Tapirs!" - came up, but what of it?

To answer your question ("Why was this even posted? ") - That's simple -To bring crash's trash can picture, and sequential's priceless comment to our attention, why else?
posted by troutfishing at 10:55 AM on May 20, 2004

As long as priceless means free of price, I'm okay with that. :-)
posted by sequential at 11:17 AM on May 20, 2004

oissubke - This chance of this legislation passing may seem remote at first glance, but Elephants are large and in charge at the Ohio statehouse right now, and they have already proven they can pass some pretty wacky legislation.
posted by Otis at 11:19 AM on May 20, 2004

I ♥ Crash and Sequential
posted by Stynxno at 11:23 AM on May 20, 2004

Otis, the Impact Statement may talk about donations, but the bill itself makes no mention of them. That's a problem.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 12:14 PM on May 20, 2004

So what? This is the state telling the state to display the state motto. Don't like it? Tell them to either vote against this or change the motto(s).
posted by MrAnonymous at 1:10 PM on May 20, 2004

What Would Flooble Do?
posted by zoogleplex at 2:05 PM on May 20, 2004

What has god done for us lately?
posted by Space Coyote at 2:38 PM on May 20, 2004

"With zombo.com, all things are possible."
posted by Wet Spot at 10:16 AM on May 21, 2004

The bill was passed yesterday by the Ohio house.
posted by Otis at 4:35 AM on May 28, 2004

Metatalk
posted by Otis at 5:20 AM on May 28, 2004