Remember Jim Fouts?

He’s the Christian mayor of Warren, Michigan who just cost taxpayers $100,000 because he blocked an atheist group from setting up a “Reason Station” in city hall even though a “Prayer Station” had been there for years. (A settlement approved a couple of weeks ago said atheists could set up shop in city hall and told the mayor to fork over the money for the atheists’ legal fees.)

Well, Fouts is still pissed off and he’s come up with a way to stick it to the atheists: He’s handing out “In God We Trust” posters to anyone who wants them:

[Fouts] said he’d make free posters displaying the “In God We Trust” message available to the public through his office. Asked if that decision was related to the recent ruling about the “reason station,” the mayor said it was, at least in part.

Technically, it’s legal… Fouts will just hide behind the “It’s our Motto!” defense. But it’s still a dick move. The subtext is “Jews and atheists and Muslims and Hindus are not welcome in the town of Warren.”

Douglas Marshall, the Warren resident who sought to display the sign and permit the reason station in the atrium, said the court’s recent ruling was a “definite victory,” despite the continued existence of the prayer station and nativity. … He said he wasn’t surprised by the mayor’s plans to offer the “In God We Trust” posters. “The mayor’s continually tried to promote Christian religious beliefs, and it sounds like that’s just another attempt,” Marshall said. “He doesn’t understand the First Amendment. Government is supposed to be completely neutral when it comes to religious beliefs.”

Maybe the Reason Station can hand out Sharpies just in case anyone wants to draw in the word “DON’T” on those posts…

(Thanks to Brian for the link)



