Ohio Legislates Schoolhouse Blasphemy

Ethics Daily reports that "Ohio Law Lets God Inside Schoolhouses." God, whose presence is everywhere, is not likely to be impressed. In fact, the God of the Bible specifically forbade invoking the name of the Divine in ways that the legislation's sponsor intends.

Ohio's legislation authorizes posting national and state mottoes in public schoolhouses:

The national motto is "In God We Trust"; the state's is "With God All Things Are Possible."

"The goal is to make sure that students have a basis to talk about the historical aspects of how this country was founded," said state Rep. Keith Faber, who sponsored the bill.

"I don't think the mottoes are necessarily religiously based," the western Ohio Republican said.

Faber language treats God as an artifact of American history. God, in his mind, has been reduced to a national mascot. Or, perhaps, God has merely become a magic talisman to ward off evil in public schools.

This is precisely what God prohibited in the Decalogue when he commanded, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain." (Exodus 20:7)