Comments on: Ohio Wants God in Schools

Ohio Wants God in Schools

Otis — Thu, 20 May 2004 08:10:38 -0800

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.

By: FormlessOne

FormlessOne — Thu, 20 May 2004 08:21:25 -0800

I, for one, welcome my jackbooted Christian overlords. (What do you mean, they're already here...?)

By: Qubit

Qubit — Thu, 20 May 2004 08:25:17 -0800

Thank the Lord they have worked out all the other things that are wrong with their schools.

By: soyjoy

soyjoy — Thu, 20 May 2004 08:28:59 -0800

Thank the Lord I don't live in Ohio anymore.

By: dfowler

dfowler — Thu, 20 May 2004 08:31:20 -0800

Thank the Lord nobody saw me leaving the apartment I burgled last night.

By: callmejay

callmejay — Thu, 20 May 2004 08:32:16 -0800

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.

By: falconred

falconred — Thu, 20 May 2004 08:37:45 -0800

'With God, All Things Are Possible' Indeed. Including violating the constitution.

By: troutfishing

troutfishing — Thu, 20 May 2004 08:39:07 -0800

"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.

By: troutfishing

troutfishing — Thu, 20 May 2004 08:41:38 -0800

Just kidding. Anyway...... "With ______ , all things are possible." : fill in the blank. Tide. Palmolive. Viagra. Crest. Playtex mini-pads.

By: oissubke

oissubke — Thu, 20 May 2004 09:02:12 -0800

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.

By: The God Complex

The God Complex — Thu, 20 May 2004 09:06:12 -0800

*places Ohio on the list of crazy states*

By: GhostintheMachine

GhostintheMachine — Thu, 20 May 2004 09:11:40 -0800

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?

By: taumeson

taumeson — Thu, 20 May 2004 09:15:35 -0800

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.

By: Hildago

Hildago — Thu, 20 May 2004 09:25:10 -0800

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.

By: Otis

Otis — Thu, 20 May 2004 09:28:26 -0800

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."

By: The God Complex

The God Complex — Thu, 20 May 2004 09:34:06 -0800

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".

By: Otis

Otis — Thu, 20 May 2004 09:46:51 -0800

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. "

By: alphanerd

alphanerd — Thu, 20 May 2004 09:50:12 -0800

In a more perfect union, legislators would make sure there was a copy of the Bill of Rights in every classroom.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Thu, 20 May 2004 10:12:42 -0800

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

By: sequential

sequential — Thu, 20 May 2004 10:41:08 -0800

Dear SCOTUS, Please spank me. Love, Ohio

By: troutfishing

troutfishing — Thu, 20 May 2004 10:55:11 -0800

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?

By: sequential

sequential — Thu, 20 May 2004 11:17:31 -0800

As long as priceless means free of price, I'm okay with that. :-)

By: Otis

Otis — Thu, 20 May 2004 11:19:19 -0800

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.

By: Stynxno

Stynxno — Thu, 20 May 2004 11:23:31 -0800

I ♥ Crash and Sequential

By: GhostintheMachine

GhostintheMachine — Thu, 20 May 2004 12:14:59 -0800

Otis, the Impact Statement may talk about donations, but the bill itself makes no mention of them. That's a problem.

By: MrAnonymous

MrAnonymous — Thu, 20 May 2004 13:10:59 -0800

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).

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Thu, 20 May 2004 14:05:13 -0800

What Would Flooble Do?

By: Space Coyote

Space Coyote — Thu, 20 May 2004 14:38:48 -0800

What has god done for us lately?

By: Wet Spot

Wet Spot — Fri, 21 May 2004 10:16:12 -0800

"With zombo.com, all things are possible."

By: Otis

Otis — Fri, 28 May 2004 04:35:16 -0800

The bill was passed yesterday by the Ohio house.

By: Otis

Otis — Fri, 28 May 2004 05:20:55 -0800

Metatalk