skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

'In God We Trust' Motto Greets Returning SD Students

play audio
Play

Tuesday, August 20, 2019   

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The mandatory display of the motto "In God We Trust" will greet South Dakota students when they return to public schools on Thursday, and those who believe in separation of church and state say that’s sending the wrong message.

A law approved by state legislators and signed by Gov. Kristi Noem requires the motto be visibly displayed in all 149 South Dakota school districts. Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, said she believes the requirement is improper, because students, teachers and other school personnel likely have a variety of spiritual beliefs.

"We think this is a very inappropriate motto because we have a godless constitution, we are not a theocracy, nobody has to believe in God, God is no part of our government,” Gaylor said. “And yet whole generations have been miseducated by this motto since it was adopted by Congress."

Congress adopted the "In God We Trust" motto in 1956. Gaylor said she believes it would be more appropriate if the motto said, "In God, Some of Us Trust,” because 25% of the U.S. population currently identifies as religiously unaffiliated.

South Dakota lawmakers said the new requirement is meant to inspire patriotism in the state's public schools.

According to the state law, the motto must be displayed in a "prominent location" such as a school entryway, cafeteria, or common area where students are likely to see it. Gaylor believes the mandatory display sends a message to non-believers that they're not real Americans or true citizens.

"The whole idea is to put that word ‘God’ in front of school children, in their public school,” she said; “and that some people are first-class citizens, believe in God, and the rest of you, not so much."

Other states such as Tennessee, North Carolina and Kentucky have adopted similar laws, but South Dakota is the first state to pass it under the auspices of Project Blitz, a coalition of Christian right groups which supports electing legislators at the local, state and federal level and whose mission it is to "preserve America's Judeo-Christian heritage and promote prayer."


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021