Recently, a member of the Alabama Legislature proposed that the motto "God Bless America" be emblazoned accross the state's automobile license plates. His stated purpose was to let everyone know that Alabama was part of the Bible Belt. I don't think anyone who cares had any doubt on that score. I was moved to write a letter to the Montgomery Advertiser, and it was published on November 28, 2005. That letter said:
Article I of the 1901 Constitution of the State of Alabama is referred to as "The Alabama Declaration of Rights". In Section 3 of that article, the framers of our state's constitution have declared, in part
"That no religion shall be established by law; that no preference shall be given by law to any religious sect, society, denomination, or mode of worship."
A recent proposal by state representative Hurst to include the phrase "God Bless America" on Alabama's automobile license plates appears to be in clear violation of Article I, Section 3 of the Alabama Constitution, not to mention Amendment I to the U.S. Constitution, which is printed each and every morning at the top of the Advertiser's editorial page.
I strongly urge Representative Hurst to withdraw his proposal out of deference to the critically important constitutional principle of separation of church and state. The authors of both constitutions had excellent reasons for including those safeguards. Only through such independence of our legal framework from religious doctrine can we be certain that we will have a government of laws, rather than a government of men who claim to speak for God.
The truth is that the language of piety is so ubiquitous in the culture of our state that many of my fellow Alabamians would not recognize the phrase "God Bless America" as a controversial religious statement. They would argue, and probably with good reason, that a large majority of our state's citizens believe in the existence of a God. Even so, surely there is a much smaller number, even in Alabama, that believe She would entertain the notion of favoring one political subdivision in Her universe to the detriment of all the others.
The real issue, though, is the principle of government by laws. It is so easy for someone, anyone, to say "God wants us to .... " (you fill in the rest); and we in Alabama seem to be more ready than most to buy into those statements, no matter how irresponsible the source. It is incumbent on us to build a wall between our governmental affairs and our religious activities, and to keep it well-maintained. Both government and religion will be stronger for it.
Thomas R. Borden Montgomery, Alabama December 1, 2005