(1959), stated:<\/p>\n
With God All Things are Possible.3953<\/p>\n
On March 16, 2001, in a 9\u20134 decision, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that this motto was constitutional. This overturned a previous decision to prohibit the motto by a three-judge panel of the same court April 2000, which decision, as described by Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist: \u201cbristled with hostility toward religion.\u201d3954<\/p>\n
Matthew Peterson, a Presbyterian minister from Cleveland, sued the State of Ohio to remove the motto with the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union and the support of the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.<\/p>\n
Judge David A. Nelson, writing the majority decision approving the motto, stated:<\/p>\n
We \u2026 would add that, just as the motto does not have as its primary purpose the advancement of religion, it does not have the primary effect of advancing religion either \u2026 <\/p>\n
For most of our history as an independent nation, the words of the constitutional prohibition against enactment of any law \u201crespecting an establishment of religion\u201d were commonly assumed to mean what they literally said. The provision was not understood as prohibiting the state from merely giving voice, in general terms, to religious sentiments widely shared by those of its citizens who profess a belief in God.3955<\/p>\n
Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice, which represented the State of Ohio in the case, stated:<\/p>\n
This is an important victory for freedom and a sound defeat for those who want to strip our nation of its religious heritage. The decision comes at a time when there is a national movement underway to remove any mention of \u201cGod\u201d from the public arena.\u201d3956<\/p>\n
The court decision affirms what we have believed from the beginning\u2014the Ohio motto is constitutional and represents an important recognition that the motto reflects both the cultural and historical importance of our past and should not be banned.3957<\/p>\n
The Ohio motto, \u201cWith God All Things are Possible,\u201d is used on official stationery, tax forms and on a bronze plate in the sidewalk at an entrance to the Ohio State House in Columbus.<\/p>\n
Ohio Governor Bob Taft called the ruling:<\/p>\n
A victory for the people of our state and the traditions that bind us together.3958<\/p>\n
Governor Taft continued:<\/p>\n
I agree with the majority opinion that our motto serves a secular purpose, instilling confidence and optimism and exhorting the listener or reader not to give up and to continue to strive. Our state motto has overwhelming support, and I\u2019m pleased that we have survived this challenge.3959<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(1959), stated: With God All Things are Possible.3953 On March 16, 2001, in a 9\u20134 decision, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that this motto was constitutional. This overturned a previous decision to prohibit the motto by a three-judge panel of the same court April 2000, which decision, as described by Supreme Court … Continue reading “OHIO,
\nMOTTO OF THE STATE OF”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16249\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}