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Defending the motto
Event rallies support for proposal
| Friday, Nov 2 2007 10:50 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Nov 2 2007 10:56 PM
The president of an organization aimed at defending religious freedom spoke at a dinner Friday night in support of the national motto, "In God We Trust."
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Jacquie Sullivan
Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, was the speaker Friday night at the Holiday Inn Select during the In God We Trust-America celebration of the National Motto.
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"It's a freedom of expression and freedom of religion," Pacific Justice Institute President Brad Dacus said about the motto. "Everyone in America should have their freedom."
About 60 people attended the dinner at the Holiday Inn Select Ballroom. The third-annual event was held by the nonprofit group In God We Trust -- America Inc. The organization plans to place the national motto in every town hall in the country.
"We are encouraging patriotism," Jacquie Sullivan, president of the organization and Bakersfield City councilwoman. "Patriotism to me is love of God."
Dacus received a round of applause when he went in front of the crowd.
Dacus and the Pacific Justice Institute have litigated against a man who filed a lawsuit against Congress because the national motto on currency offended him.
Dacus also represented local parents who touched off a major civil-rights controversy eight years ago when they pulled their children out of the classroom of a science teacher because he was gay.
Dacus said the national motto is a statement of history and carries a personal meaning for many people.
He said he trusted God about a decade ago when he chose to keep working in California instead of moving to the East Coast.
"In God We Trust is a necessity," he said. "It becomes more of a necessity when I realize how much I need it."
At the event, speakers and videos touched on the history of the motto, such as when Congress placed the saying on all paper and coin money in 1955.
Attendees also shouted the names of the 26 cities that have approved display of "In God We Trust." The organization plans on having 52 cities agreeing to display the motto by this time next year.
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Bakersfield City Councilwoman Jacquie Sullivan wanted to see “In God We Trust” posters in Kern High School District classrooms.
She bent the ear of Kern High School District Trustee Chad Vegas, offering to fund the project through her nonprofit group, In God We Trust — America Inc., whose mission is to place the national motto in every town hall in the country.
Last month, Vegas introduced a policy proposal to hang the posters in every classroom, setting off a community debate over patriotism and religion.
He then introduced a second proposal requiring the motto be displayed with founding documents like the U.S. Constitution, a vote on which will be taken Monday.