West Virginia is on the verge of requiring the phrase “In God We Trust” to be displayed in every public school building in the state.
On Monday, the state Senate passed Sen Mike Azinger’s bill to require both public K-12 schools and public institutions of higher learning to display the official United States national motto on posters or in frames situated in a “conspicuous place” in their buildings.
The bill will now head to the state’s House of Delegates for a vote. If it passes there, it will go to Republican Gov Jim Justice for his signature or veto.
“We know there’s a lot of kids that have problems at home, tough times at home that we don’t know anything about,” Mr Azinger said during his address about the bill on the Senate floor. “Maybe they’ll look up one day and say, ‘In God We Trust’ and know they can put their hope in God.”
Whether or not West Virginia children are looking for a higher power to put their faith in, theirs may be the latest state to enact a law designed to steer them toward God. A number of other Republican-led states have passed similar laws, including Texas, South Dakota, Utah, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Louisiana.
Mr Azinger says he has another motive for his bill: to address the divisions he sees plaguing country. Mr Azinger pointed out that when “In God We Trust” was adopted as the national slogan by President Dwight D Esienhower in 1956, the country was riven by divisions over Cold War politics and red scare tactics pushed by the likes of Sen Joseph McCarthy.
“It was adopted during a time of disunity in America, at a time that unity was needed,” Mr Azinger said on Monday. “And I think that’s where we are in America in many ways.”
The display of the motto in West Virginia public school buildings would also have to include the national and state flags. They would not be permitted to feature any other language aside from the national slogan.
The Senate passed the bill 32-0, and it is expected to pass through the House of Delegates in deep red West Virginia as well. Mr Justice, the billionaire coal baron governor who has said that he is mulling a run for the Senate seat currently held by Sen Joe Manchin, would be expected to sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
