In an interview on “Fox and Friends” this past week, Blount County School System Superintendent Rodney Green expressed his strong support of Alabama’s new “In God We Trust” law as beneficial to student and faculty comfort.
The state legislature in March approved a bill that took effect June 1 allowing the national motto to be displayed in public buildings, including schools.
Alabama schools systems now have the decision-making power to display the motto or not, and Blount County is viewed as a test for the rest of the state.
Green explained to “Fox and Friends” the significance of the new law, which he enthusiastically praised.
“We’re just excited to have the opportunity to display our national motto inside our public school classrooms,” he emphasized. “It’s an opportunity for our students and our faculty to build pride and unity in our school system.”
Green is confident that displaying “In God We Trust” will give his jurisdiction’s students a higher level of comfort during school hours because it recognizes a higher authority as the ultimate protector of man.
“Our schools and public buildings are targets of violence now, as we all know,” he said.
Green continued, “I think having a basic, fundamental national motto in ‘In God We Trust’ gives our students a level of comfort that our national motto supports a recognition of a higher authority and we can depend on that higher authority for protection.”
He later opined that displaying the motto will “establish lines of respect in our schools,” also adding “I think that brings order to our schools.”
Green’s focus on student and faculty comfort echoes recent comments made by the legislation’s author, state Rep. David Standridge (R-Hayden), when he advised “Fox and Friends First” that the idea for the law came in part out of recent debate about school safety.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall also recently defended the law, telling Yellowhammer News, “Frankly, in a time when schools are increasingly the targets of violence, it is hard to understand how one could argue that a renewed emphasis on our nation’s religious heritage through the display of ‘In God We Trust’ or the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance could be detrimental to our students.”
Blount County, Alabama school superintendent: Having ‘In God We Trust’ back in schools gives our students a level of comfort and recognition of a higher authority pic.twitter.com/e88OcBNVA3
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) August 15, 2018
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
