Hondo’s “God’s Country” Signs Come Under Scrutiny

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Hondo’s “God’s Country” Signs Come Under Scrutiny

THE FREEDOM FROM RELIGION FOUNDATION DEMANDS THEIR REMOVAL, BUT DO THE SIGNS REALLY MAKE NON-BELIEVERS FEEL UNWELCOME?

JUNE 23, 2016 by JOHN NOVA LOMAX 48 COMMENTS

WIKICOMMONS

After successfully forcing the East Texas town of Hawkins to take down a religious sign on public property, and forcing a draw in a battle over a cross in a public park in Port Neches, the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation has returned to Texas. This time, they have something of a roadside icon in their sights: the two-decades-old signs welcoming Highway 90 drivers to the southwest Texas town of Hondo that reads “Welcome: This is God’s Country. Please don’t drive through it like Hell. Hondo, Texas.”

 

In a letter to Hondo mayor James Danner, FFRF co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor writes:

 

It is inappropriate for the city of Hondo to display religious signs that convey government preference for religion over nonreligion. The display of the religious message ‘This Is God’s Country’ on public property violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits public bodies from advancing, supporting, or promoting religion. It is also needlessly divisive, since it sends the message that nonbelievers are not welcome in the city.