TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

Kern County supervisors' motivations for posting the national motto, "In God We Trust," in their public chambers are critical to whether the act would violate federal laws protecting the separation of church and state, County Counsel Theresa Goldner wrote in an opinion released this week.

If supervisors' predominate goal is to promote their own faith by raising their god's name in a public place, Goldner wrote, the county would be vulnerable to a legal challenge.

If the aim is just to post the national motto as a secular statement, in keeping with historical uses of the phrase, then past decisions from the courts give the county legal protection, she said.

A Feb. 8 e-mail from Supervisor Zack Scrivner, a Christian who proposed raising the motto in supervisors chambers last month, does mention faith.

"I realize the County has many challenging issues facing it. However, in these trying times, a reminder of the strengths of our country, and the faith that underlies everything we are made of, in my opinion, is something all Kern County citizens should support," Scrivner wrote in touting his proposal to post the phrase on county property.

Friday he said his effort to put forward "In God We Trust" is a purely patriotic and historical exercise. Use of words like "faith," he said, aren't meant to promote one religion over any other.

"Having faith is a general term that doesn't apply to any religion," Scrivner said. "It can apply to any belief system."

In her opinion, Goldner said that what Scrivner said verbally and in a written memo when he proposed the idea Jan. 11 appear to make his motivation secular. The remarks made no mention of religion.

Goldner had no response to Scrivner's e-mail, saying the evidence in the record is important.

"The only record that has been made so far is what happened on January 11," she said.

Supervisors are scheduled to discuss Goldner's report and the motto decision Tuesday.

Goldner's opinion carries a clear cautioning tone.

Expressions by supervisors that their motivation might be based on religious faith, and Scrivner's secular claims only a guise, could render the action illegal, she wrote.

"The January 11 meeting will not be the only relevant record. What your board members say during all of its meetings on this matter, and even what occurs during any installation or unveiling ceremony, will be relevant," Goldner wrote. "if the proceedings emphasize religion or suggest a religious overtone to your board's approval, those new facts and circumstances may make approval of the display legally vulnerable."

In his e-mail to constituents, Scrivner touted his "In God We Trust" proposal and talked more about his motivations for proposing the idea.

"Most important is what In God We Trust truly implies. We as Americans are a free people, with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Who grants this wondrous right? Our Founding Fathers asserted in the Declaration of Independence that our freedom and equality as individuals was granted to us by our Creator, and not by government," Scrivner wrote.

He wrote that legal challenges to the motto's placement have long been exhausted.

"But, clearly, the motto does not endorse, advocate, or proclaim one religion over another which satisfies the freedom of religion clause in the First Amendment, and precedent of the separation of church and state argument that is often erroneously used to challenge the display of the motto," Scrivner wrote.

Actually, Goldner's opinion states, case law has determined that what protects an installation of the motto from a challenge based on the First Amendment is a predominately secular motivation for posting the motto.

Scrivner said his statements about the national motto are in keeping with the restrictions he is under as outlined by Goldner.

"There isn't anything in what I've said that is counter to the establishment clause," he said. "This is not the establishment of religion."

It is, Scrivner argues, a recognition of the historical and patriotic significance of the phrase.

Rabbi Cheryl Rosenstein of Temple Beth El said the supporters of "In God We Trust" installations on public buildings can claim a secular motivation. But making that claim doesn't remove the real reason they are doing it, she said.

"They can dodge all they want," she said. "The people who are bringing this forward have an agenda. Their agenda is to Christianize America. They get away with it because of the broad definition of religion."

She said placing God's name on city hall or raising it in classrooms in the Kern High School District has not helped those institutions improve themselves.

"When God becomes secular, we're in trouble," she said.

Rosenstein said she can't make Tuesday's meeting as she will be hosting Catholic students from Garces High School for an annual tour. But she expects some members of her congregation to attend.

Scrivner has stated that private donations would fund creation and installation of the motto above the county logo behind the supervisors' dais.

He said he is not yet sure what "vehicle" he will use to funnel those donations to the project. He is concentrating on getting the idea approved first.

In God We Trust -- America, the nonprofit run by his political ally Bakersfield City Council member Jacquie Sullivan, is dedicated to similar efforts.

But the most recent financial disclosure documents for Sullivan's group, which she founded to promote installation of "In God We Trust" in cities and counties across California, was more than $9,000 in debt at the beginning of 2010.

Sullivan's efforts, which began at the city of Bakersfield in February 2002, have resulted in all the cities in Kern County raising their motto in public buildings.

Scrivner said in his e-mail to constituents that if his proposal succeeds, Kern County would be the first in the nation where all cities and county government had installed the motto in the main government center.