Just wondering if a state could make a state deity, like the old patron deities of early civilization, or would this run afoul of the establishment of a religion?
Would it make a difference if a state chose a old Indian (native American) ‘God’, over Jehovia, Chirst or Allah?
How about Priapus?
I hear he goes longer, err, gets better gas mileage.
Main Entry: es·tab·lish·ment
Function: noun
1 : something established: as a : a church recognized by law as the official church of a nation or state and supported by civil authority b : a permanent civil or military organization c : a place of residence or esp. business with its furnishings and staff
2 a : an act of establishing b : the state of being established
Source: Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
So, yes, it would appear to count as “establishment”. That being said, I’m sure that some legal types would try and make distinctions between “church” (in the above definition), “religion” (in the Constitution), and “god” (in the resolution proposed by the state).
On the other hand, in Engel v Vitale (1962), the Supreme Court ruled that a state-sponsored prayer that mentioned “God” was enough to violate the Establishment Clause, even though the “God” wasn’t necessarily the God of Christianity.
My vote goes to Huitzilopochtli, the Hummingbird from Paradise, Aztec god of war and human sacrifice. He can serve as both state bird and state deity.
I believe the California state seal has gotten in to trouble for having a roman goddess (of agriculture, I think) on it. In earlier times it was pretty common for US states/towns/etc. to use classical gods/goddesses symbolically.
Why not the Flying Spagetti Monster?
It flies - close enough to be state bird. It could be the state deity, and it could be the state noodly snack!
Plus then we don’t need to worry about that whole “church” bit
Sure. But, for obvious reasons, it would have to be a different deity for every state. First Commandment notwithstanding.
It was the goddess Pomona.
Pomona is a city in Los Angeles County, hence it’s use on the old state seal.
Correction:
It was the Los Angeles county seal.
I don’t know about the Constitutionality of it, but how awesome would this make debates in the Senate?
“Oh mighty Zeus, ruler of all the gods, lord of Olympus, and official state diety of Idaho. I call upon thee, in thy eternal, devine wisdom, to wield now thine fiery thunderbolt and incinerate all among this heathen rabble that dare oppose the motion to proceed to consideration of HR 1732, an act renaming the postal facility in Coure d’Alene the Frank J. Oglethorpe Post Office. Thy will be done.”
This is probably one reason why the Establishment Clause (“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”) was written in to the first amendment.
IANAL but it seems to me that while the Establishment Clause gets tested (school prayer, nativiy scenes on government property, etc.) overt state endorsement of a religion is still off limits. So the idea posed in the OP would be the SCOTUS tosses it out.
That doesn’t seem to stop politicians from trying to score cheap political points with a fundie voting block by putting such measures forth. IIRC some state is trying something very much like this right now. Missouri? (I forget)
Why so? There’s lots of overlap in state birds. Seven states have the Cardinal, six the Western Meadowlark (oddly, nobody picked Eastern Meadowlark), five Mockingbird, and three American Robin. My guess is that there would be quite a few states that would go for Mammon.
Nope.
Since 1957, the Los Angeles county seal has a representation of a building with a cross representing the missions so crucial in the history of the county. In 2003 (yes, 46 years later) threatened to sue based on the establishment clause and the county board of supervisors folded like an accordion and redesigned the seal. Interestingly enough, Mission San Gabriel is still on the seal - just minus the cross.
California on the other hand has a picture of Minerva who was born fully aged from the head of Jupiter. She represents the fact that California came into the Union fully-born (i.e. never a territory). This has been the seal since 1849.
As for Pomona (the city), its city seal still has Pomona (the goddess).
So bottom line, apparently there is no problem with goddesses or missions - just crosses.
Any bets on the state deity for my home state, Utah, as if anyone needed a reminder?
Oooooops.
The ACLU threatened to sue
Probably not for US states, but maybe in other countries. For all I know Ganesh is the official state deity of Punjab.
Doubt it; India is constitutionally defined to be a “sovereign socialist secular democratic republic”, so no state religion or state deity allowed.
I believe that the constitutionally defined relations between the states and the Union would therefore prohibit any individual state from having an official deity either, but you’d need an actual lawyer to say for sure.
So if you emblazon Priapus on the state scroll, thereby breaking the Establishment Clause, would someone accuse you of blowing a seal?
That was a little gem of a response.