Illinois is the latest state with a Christian legislator pushing for “In God We Trust” signs in every public school.

House Bill 341, filed by Republican State Rep. Darren Bailey, would allow schools to display the phrase in a “conspicuous location inside or outside each school building.” It wouldn’t be mandatory, so there’s that, but it’s still useless.

Why the hell does Bailey want to waste time on this?

“As a God-fearing Christian, I believe that the lack of such is the problem in our country today,” he said.

So much for justifying the legislation with lies about how we need to be more patriotic… Bailey says the phrase has nothing to do with honoring the country and everything to do with pushing his religion on everybody else. Rookie mistake. He said the quiet part out loud and gave away his real agenda.

He actually elaborated on his plans to force Christianity in the schools in his official press release.

“I have heard from many people around my district say for years that many of the problems we face in our communities these days is the result of an eroding of our value system on how we treat others and live our lives,” said Rep. Darren Bailey. “The most common phrase I hear is that we need to put God back in our schools to bring back common decency and help give a moral compass to our young people. This bill does just that.”

We don’t need Bailey’s personal God in our schools. We certainly don’t need religion to teach common decency and morality when it’s the Christians currently running the government who provide us with a steady stream of corrupt acts and cruel policies.

Bailey also doesn’t explain how the phrase “In God We Trust” would help restore decency and morality. What does he think kids are going to do after they see it? What does he think they’re doing before they see it? If your moral compass changes as a result of reading those four words, you have other issues worth addressing.

Bailey’s bill should be dismissed as soon as possible. With a Democratic majority in the state legislature, there should be enough sensible legislators to outnumber the theocrats like him. The bill is currently in the Rules Committee, where it should never leave.

(Image via Shutterstock)

