Stuart L. Riley shared a link. June 5 at 9:10pm I made my first public comment on IGWT at tonight's council meeting. The text of my comment is below. I explain my position, and what I plan to do starting in the next couple of months. There are over 300 signatures on the petition so far. I want to thank everyone for signing. I'll keep the petition open a while longer to allow more people to sign it. I added a link to the video of my comments to the council. My next comment to them will be in August. Thank you for your support. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ My name is Stuart Riley. I live in District 2. I'm here to comment on the motto In God We Trust that's on display in this room. This motto replaced the county motto in 2015, by a vote of 2 to 1 by the council. The idea of installing this motto was initiated by two county councilors, at the request of "In God We Trust-America", an organization run by Jacquie Sullivan, based in Bakersfield, California, According to their web site, In God We Trust-America's mission is "To promote patriotism by encouraging elected officials to 'Vote Yes' to legally display our congressionally approved national motto IN GOD WE TRUST in every City, County Chamber, and State Capitol in America." This mission statement implies that you must trust in a god in order to be patriotic. This is an example of how this motto is divisive. It drives an unnecessary wedge between residents of the county: believers vs. non-believers and apparently, patriotic vs. unpatriotic. For some of us residents, this motto is a lie that we are reminded of every time we walk in this room. And for many of us, it's an affront to the idea of separation of church and state. The motto, “In God We Trust” proclaims we all trust something that for many of us, doesn't exist, and if it did exist, is so immoral, it shouldn't be trusted at all. Saying we trust in god begs the question: Which god, and why should we trust it? Well, we certainly can't trust the Abrahamic god. The bible is full of stories of a god who created evil, approves of slavery, and indiscriminately kills innocent people, including children. Even an atheist like me knows this is immoral behaviour of a god that cannot be trusted. Your tacit approval of this motto tells residents of our county that you value belief more than non-belief, and you consider people like me as second-class citizens. Or as Sullivan's group implies, people like me are unpatriotic, because we don’t believe a god exists. I appeal to the board's sense of fairness and reason, and in the spirit of unity for the county, to remove this motto from the council chambers. By removing this motto, you will demonstrate to all residents that, as a government body, you support the proper neutral position that belief is not valued any more than non-belief. But as long as this motto remains in this room, I will return to provide specific examples of why this immoral god should not be trusted. Do the right thing for the residents of our county. Remove this motto. I am willing to pay the cost of the removal, and if desired, replacement with our country's original motto, "e pluribus unum". Thank you for your time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------