An atheist group in Florida has offered to provide its own version of “In God We Trust” signs to the state’s public schools after legislators passed a law mandating the motto be on display.
One version of the sign proposed by the group, Atheists of Florida, would also include a line from the First Amendment, the Tampa Bay Times reported on Monday.
“We want to help educate about the First Amendment and the establishment clause, as well as about the diversity in our country,” the group’s executive director, Judy Adkins, told the Times.
The group hopes to offset the cost of the new requirement, which would not be funded by the state legislature, but also highlight diversity, according to Adkins.
That version of the sign would also include the phrase “E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one” in a circle of American red, white and blue stars and stripes, as well as the line from the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
Other drafts of the sign would include pictures of Jesus, Buddha, Odin and other gods.
“We know they’re talking about the Christian God,” Adkins told the news outlet. “But we also know there’s a diverse population in the Florida school system that have other gods, or no gods.”
Adkins hopes the school system accepts the group’s offer.
“We very much support the public school system and want to help in any way we can,” Adkins wrote to the superintendents, according to the Times.
Last month, the Florida state House passed a bill that would require public schools to display “In God We Trust” in a “conspicuous place” in each building used by public school boards.