With the ACLU All Things Are Possible

0 Comments | Insight on the News, June 12, 2000 | by Stephen Goode

In a decision that didn't come as much of a surprise but still disappointed many, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, this spring and knocked down Ohio's state motto, "With God All Things Are Possible," because it's a quotation from Jesus in the Gospel according to St. Matthew.

The 2-1 decision by the federal court overturned a lower court's ruling and found that the motto favored the establishment of Christianity above other religions and therefore is unconstitutional.

The motto had been adopted officially on Oct. 1, 1959, after being proposed by a 12-year-old Cincinnati schoolboy. The full text from St. Matthew reads: "But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, 'With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.'"

Angry readers of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reacted quickly to the court's controversial decision, many providing substitutions of their own for the now-outlawed motto. Some were pessimistic and philosophic: "With a lack of values anything is probable." Others were downright cynical: "With the tooth fairy all things are possible."

Or how about this purely secular one, which surely would pass the court's scrutiny: "With money all things are possible." But for the people's favorite was: "Render to Caesar what is Caesar's; render unto ACLU what is God's."