CHARLESTON, West Virgnia (LifeSiteNews) — “In God We Trust” will now be displayed in public schools across West Virginia, under a new law signed on Tuesday by Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey.
SB 280 requires the phrase, which is the national motto, in a “conspicuous location within a common area of the main building […] that is accessible to the public” in public elementary and secondary schools and state institutions of higher education. The display must be funded by private donations.
“Our students will learn that here in West Virginia we do value God, family, and country,” Morrissey said, adding that “our faith in God has propelled America through 250 years of success, and by God, we’re not gonna stop now.”
The governor also framed the move as part of a broader education reform agenda. “As governor, one of my top priorities is to improve West Virginia’s educational rankings,” he said. “To do that, we must focus on academics and remove classroom distractions. The bills I signed today will help ensure a brighter future for students in the Mountain State.”
Supporters say that religious displays such as “In God We Trust” or the Ten Commandments on public property are integral to emphasizing the role of faith in America’s formation and prosperity dating back to the nation’s founding and do not constitute an impermissible “establishment of religion.”
The phrase “separation of church and state,” frequently invoked in opposition to religious content on public grounds, comes not from the Declaration of Independence or U.S. Constitution but from a letter by Thomas Jefferson supporting religious liberty.
Though not actual law, when taken literally the phrase is an accurate shorthand for one of the practical effects of the First Amendment: recognizing that the church and the state are two distinct entities and holding that neither may control the affairs of the other. Today, however, left-wing activists claim that it means religious ideas and values cannot in any way inform, influence, or be recognized by government and that any expression of faith on government time, on government land, or with government resources is illegal, no matter how benign or voluntary. That interpretation is without basis in the words or actions of America’s Founding Fathers, who saw religion as vital to America’s success and worthy of being recognized in public education.
“The very same Congress (specifically, the First Congress) that approved the language of the Establishment Clause also provided for the appointment of chaplains in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives,” American Center for Law & Justice attorney Geoffrey Surtees has written. “In fact, on the very same day that it approved the Establishment Clause, the First Congress also passed the Northwest Ordinance, providing for a territorial government for lands northwest of the Ohio River, which declared: ‘Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.’”
