By Kathee Baird
July 31, 2015
- Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader (r) stands in back of one of the patrol cars that was recently decaled
Galena, MO.- The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) announced they have called for seven law enforcement agencies nationwide to remove “In God We Trust” decals from their law enforcement vehicles, according to a press release. The Stone County Sheriff's Office, who recently placed the decals on patrol vehicles, is one of those agencies.
In the letters, FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor points out that posting “In God We Trust” on police vehicles promotes religion, sending a message of exclusion to nearly a quarter of the U.S. population who identifies as nonreligious.
Letters were sent to to the following agencies:
“Spending taxpayer time placing religious messages on patrol cars is beyond the scope of secular government,” wrote Gaylor. “Further, in a time when citizens nationwide are increasingly distrustful of police actions, it is frightening and politically dubious to announce to citizens that law enforcement officers rely on the judgment of a deity rather than on the judgment of the law.”
FFRF has urged each of the departments to remove the messages from publicly-financed vehicles in order to “respect the rights of conscience of all citizens, including those who in good conscience reject belief in a god.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wis., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational charity, is the nation’s largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics), and has been working since 1978 to keep religion and government separate according to their website.
4 comments:
Hi there,
I totally agree that it was in everyone best interest for them to remove the decals from their law enforcement vehicles. The law should represent fairness and unbiased to all things.
It's the national motto and the courts have ruled it not to be strictly a religious connotation. And most people like it. Most people win. Not a few complainers
They have called for seven law enforcement agencies nationwide to remove “In God We Trust” decals from their law enforcement vehicles.
It's only been the motto since 1956. Our education dollars hard at work and there's the result. It's not a few complainers either.
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