National Motto Archives - American Atheists

Oppose Religious Coercion in New Hampshire Public Schools!

American Atheists — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 20:45:19 +0000

New Hampshire lawmakers are considering an unnecessary and exclusionary bill (HB 69) that will require every building in every school district to have an “In God We Trust” display. This harmful Christian nationalist legislation has already passed in several other states, but together, we can stop it in New Hampshire! Government-sponsored religious coercion has no place in our public schools. This message of exclusion is the last thing atheist and religious minority students, teachers, and staff need. Join this important effort to stop promotion of religion in New Hampshire schools! Please reach out to the Senate Education Committee and ask them to reject HB 69! HB 69 will result in bullying and harassment of students with minority beliefs. According to a study on religion in America by the Pew Research Center, 36% of New Hampshire residents are religiously unaffiliated. Younger Americans are even more likely to be nonreligious. New Hampshire lawmakers should not stigmatize these students by requiring schools to promote religious messages! National motto display bills like HB 69 are being pushed by special interests as part of Project Blitz, an effort by Christian nationalists to rewrite American history so that it favors their agenda. These bills aim to undermine the separation of religion and government and spread a false narrative that America was founded as a Christian nation. We cannot allow special interests to use our children to achieve their political goals. Please take a moment and ask the Senate Education Committee to oppose this bill today!

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Oppose Religious Coercion in Nebraska Public Schools!

American Atheists — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 14:54:46 +0000

Nebraska lawmakers are considering an unnecessary and exclusionary bill (LB 36) that will require every school classroom to have an “In God We Trust” display. This harmful Christian Nationalist legislation has already passed in several other states, but together, we can stop it in Nebraska! Government-sponsored religious coercion has no place in our classrooms, public colleges, and public buildings. This message of exclusion is the last thing atheist and religious minority students, teachers, and staff need. Join this important effort to stop promotion of religion in Nebraska schools! Please reach out to the Education Committee, and ask them to reject LB 36! LB 36 will result in bullying and harassment of students with minority beliefs. According to a study on religion in America by the Pew Research Center, 20% of Nebraska residents are religiously unaffiliated. Younger Americans are even more likely to be nonreligious. Nebraska lawmakers should not stigmatize these students by publicly promoting religious messages! National motto display bills like LB 36 are being pushed by special interests as part of Project Blitz, an effort by Christian Nationalists to rewrite American history so that it favors their agenda. These bills aim to undermine the separation of religion and government and spread a false narrative that America was founded as a Christian nation. We cannot allow special interests to use our children to achieve their political goals. Please take a moment and ask the Education Committee to oppose this bill today!

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Atheists: “In God We Trust” School Displays Misinform and Harm Children

American Atheists — Thu, 15 Aug 2019 15:05:36 +0000

Frankfort, KY—Today, American Atheists and Kentucky atheist groups denounced the state’s new “In God We Trust” school display requirement as harmful to children. With 42% of 13 – 18 years olds identifying as non-Christian, “In God We Trust” displays stigmatize nearly half of all students. “When non-Christian students are confronted with this divisive motto in every classroom, every day, they are left with the unmistakable impression that they aren’t fully American,” said Nick Fish, President of American Atheists. “The public education system should be focused on one thing: Educating young people. These political fights have no place in our nation’s schools.” On March 25, 2019, Governor Matt Bevin signed the “In God We Trust” bill into law. Representative Brandon Reed, the bill’s sponsor, said that we need God now more than ever and that “In God We Trust” is an essential part of what it means to be an American. “As a Kentucky parent, I owe it to my three children to protect them from this sort of forced religious indoctrination,” said Johnny Pike, American Atheists’ Kentucky State Director and a U.S. Army veteran. “It attacks my family’s patriotism. Even if we do not ‘trust in God,’ we are just as American as anyone else.” “‘In God We Trust’ is a divisive, exclusionary motto that has nothing to do with our nation’s founding. It only became the official motto in 1956 after it replaced the unifying E Pluribus Unum (Out of many, one), which was first proposed by Thomas Jefferson,” added Fish. “Kentucky’s students deserve all the facts.” To inform Kentucky parents, teachers, and children about the true origins of our national motto, American Atheists launched the NationalMotto.org website and created its own historically accurate “In God We Trust” posters that are available free-of-charge. “Not just Kentuckians, but all Americans deserve to know that ‘In God We Trust’ bills throughout the country are all part of Project Blitz, a Christian nationalist campaign to attack civil rights,” said Alison Gill, American Atheists’ Vice President for Legal and Policy. “These bills are the first step in an escalating campaign to attack religious equality, LGBTQ rights, and access to reproductive healthcare.” To learn more about Project Blitz, visit BlitzWatch.org.

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Atheists: Schools Should Not Be Forced to Display “In God We Trust” Posters

American Atheists — Tue, 12 Mar 2019 17:49:14 +0000

Frankfort, Kentucky—Yesterday, Kentucky Assistant State Director Joshua Buckman’s testified before the State House in opposition to HB 46. This bill “undermines religious liberty by requiring schools to display the national motto ‘In God We Trust’ in schools,” he stated. “This bill is unnecessary and exclusionary,” he continued. “Schools can already display such posters if they deem them educationally valuable.” “If an atheist student or parent or teachers walks into their classroom or their school, that’s the equivalent of a devout, evangelical Christian walking in their classroom and having to see “In Allah We Trust” or “In Buddha We Trust,” said Crescent Hill Baptist Church Rev. Jason Crosby. “Efforts to impose a political agenda onto public schools through this type of legislation is part of a multistate campaign by Christian nationalists to promote the false narrative that America was founded as a Christian nation,” continued Buckman. “This bill undermines the spirit of the First Amendment and the separation of religion and government, which is the bedrock of our religious liberty.”

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American Atheists Warns States about “In God We Trust” Posters as Religious Propaganda

American Atheists — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 19:53:36 +0000

Cranford, NJ—Today, American Atheists submitted testimony opposing two “In God We Trust” display bills. Kentucky’s HB 46 and Indiana’s SB 373 would trample religious liberty by forcing public schools to display this Judeo-Christian language. Kentucky’s “In God We Trust” Display Bill Specifically, Kentucky’s HB 46 would require schools to display “In God We Trust” in a prominent location in schools. Not only would this bill force non-believing students to view this religious message daily, it would further stigmatize children of no faith or minority faiths. As a result, bullying and harassment would likely increase. Just as bad, Kentucky taxpayer dollars would be wasted on defending this unnecessary and divisive law. KY’s education dollars should go toward educating students, not supporting religious messages by special interests. Indiana’s “In God We Trust” Display and Creationism Bill Indiana’s SB 373 is even worse than HB 46. SB 373 would force public schools to display “In God We Trust” in each and every classroom. SB 373 goes further than HB 46 in three additional and disturbing ways: School districts could teach creation science or other so-called “theories concerning the origin of life” instead of legitimate science. Courts have repeatedly made clear that teaching creation science is religious indoctrination, and therefore such a curriculum is inherently unconstitutional. Schools would encourage students to attend religious instruction and receive educational credit. This is a clear violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Schools could not infringe “parental rights” on what is taught. This concept is so vague and the legal protections so uncertain that it would result in an unworkable educational system and a host of unintended consequences. “This bill is shockingly unconstitutional. We hope that lawmakers in Indiana are wise enough to halt this roiling mess of poorly conceived ideas, religious coercion, and unintended consequences before it becomes law,” wrote Alison Gill, Vice President for Legal and Policy. Christian Nationalism and Project Blitz Both bills are part of Project Blitz, a multi-state campaign by Christian nationalists to promote the false narrative that America was founded as a Christian nation. American Atheists is leading the charge against Project Blitz with its BlitzWatch campaign.

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Atheists: Do Not Subject Nebraska Schoolchildren to “In God We Trust” Posters

American Atheists — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 19:00:36 +0000

Lincoln, NE—American Atheists, on behalf of its nearly 300 constituents in Nebraska, wrote in opposition to LB 73, a controversial bill that requires school boards to display the national motto “In God We Trust” in every classroom and school building.

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Atheists Donate National Motto Displays to Arkansas Schools

American Atheists — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 15:17:03 +0000

Bentonville, AR—In response to a 2017 law that requires Arkansas school districts to post in all classrooms donated signs or displays that show the national motto, American Atheists Monday announced a donation of nearly 1,000 posters to the Bentonville School District. The posters donated by American Atheists include both the current national motto, “In God We Trust,” and the original de facto motto of the United States, “E Pluribus Unum,” accompanied by a brief explanation of the changes made to the national motto in 1956. The displays also include a representation of the American flag, the Arkansas state flag, and a link to an instructional webpage that provides additional historical context and information about the national motto: www.atheists.org/motto “We’re pleased to donate these displays that present the full truth and historical context of our national motto,” said Nick Fish, American Atheists’ national program director. “Proponents of Act 911, including Bentonville’s State Representative Jim Dotson, claim that mandating these displays is about acknowledging our nation’s ‘history and heritage’ in classrooms. But we think students deserve all the facts, not just a poster of an exclusionary and divisive motto devoid of any additional context or information.” Fish, joined by representatives of the local atheist community, attended the August 20 Bentonville School Board meeting to present the donation. American Atheists has delivered a letter to the district requesting logistical information to complete the donation. “It’s interesting to note the displays donated by Rep. Dotson don’t actually conform to the law he himself introduced. We look forward to seeing our displays, which do conform to the law, hanging in every classroom in Bentonville,” added Fish. “As Dotson pointed out at the February 19 meeting he attended to make his donation, the school district is required under the law to display the posters that have been donated.” In 2018, more than 70 bills, many of them similar to Act 911, were introduced nationwide as part of “Project Blitz,” a nationwide campaign by Christian Nationalist groups to reshape state and federal laws by using a distorted interpretation of “religious freedom.” The proponents of these bills hope to roll back civil rights protections and inject the false idea that America was founded as a Christian nation into our public schools. “This concerted effort to use religion as a weapon against atheists, religious minorities, LGBTQ people, and women is dangerous and un-American,” said Alison Gill, legal and policy director of American Atheists. “This legislation being pushed by Christian Nationalists undermines religious freedom by instilling into the law only one religious viewpoint, theirs, while attacking the separation of religion and government which is the bedrock of our tradition of religious liberty. They admit to starting with ‘low hanging fruit’ like these national motto displays and building momentum to use religion as an excuse to allow discrimination in public accommodations, adoption services, and medical care. We must protect religious liberty from these extremists.” Fish’s Prepared Remarks to the Bentonville School Board Letter Sent to the Bentonville School Board

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