October 2022 Church & State Magazine

‘In God We Trust’ Posted In Texas Public Schools

  ‘In God We Trust’ Posted In Texas Public Schools

A new law in Texas requires public schools to post “In God We Trust” signs if they are donated by outside groups.

The law was sponsored by state Sen. Bryan Hughes, a Republican whose district includes 16 counties in eastern Texas. Hughes was also the sponsor of a controversial Texas law that outlaws abortion after six weeks and contains a complicated system for private enforcement.

The law requires that the “In God We Trust” signs be posted in a “conspicuous place” in public schools and that the posters be donated by private entities.

The Texas Tribune, an online news site, reported that several districts have already received posters. Several of them came from Patriot Mobile, a Texas-based cellphone company that donates a portion of its profits to right-wing political causes.

Advocates of church-state separation in Texas criticized the new law.

Carisa Lopez, a senior political director with the Texas Freedom Network (TFN), told The Texas Tribune that the law thrusts religion into public schools.

“Our Constitution guarantees the freedom from religion, and the state of Texas shouldn’t be making any religious requirements of our public schools,” Carisa Lopez, TFN’s senior political director, said in a statement. “It’s clear they know this crosses the line because they conveniently worded the law to find a loophole to make it happen.”

BREAKING NEWS

Americans United & the National Women’s Law Center file suit to challenge Missouri’s abortion bans.

Abortion bans violate the separation of church and state. Americans United and the National Women’s Law Center—the leading experts in religious freedom and gender justice—have joined forces with thirteen clergy from six faith traditions to challenge Missouri’s abortion bans as unconstitutionally imposing one narrow religious doctrine on everyone.


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