Ohio's God reference approved by court

Christian Century, April 18, 2001

A full Ohio federal appeals court has upheld the constitutionality of the Ohio state motto, which states that "With God All Things Are Possible." The ruling reverses one from a three-judge panel last spring.

"The motto is merely a broadly worded expression of a religious/ philosophical sentiment that happens to be widely shared by the citizens of Ohio," wrote Judge David A. Nelson in the majority opinion for the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The 9-4 ruling handed down March 16 overturned a 2-1 ruling last April by a panel of the appeals court which found that the motto expresses "a uniquely Christian thought" and its use by the state amounted to government endorsement of Christianity.

The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Presbyterian minister Matthew Peterson. The civil rights organization had argued that the phrase is inseparable from its biblical context. In 1998 a U.S. district judge had granted Ohio permission to use the motto with the stipulation that the phrase's biblical origins could not be cited.