Bakersfield to Put Its Trust in God

BAKERSFIELD -- Sometime in the next few months, letters proclaiming “In God We Trust” will be affixed to the brick-and-metal walls of City Hall.

That the City Council of church-filled Bakersfield decided to place the national motto on a public building is no surprise. “We are doing something great tonight,” the councilwoman who suggested the posting said when it was overwhelmingly approved a few weeks ago.

More remarkable has been the public debate that accompanied her proposal, the letters to the local paper condemning it and the fact that it was not supported by the mayor, a well-known business owner who has lived here most of his 61 years.

The dissension reflects the changing nature of a town that is deeply rooted in oil, agriculture and the Bible Belt--but now also has a Hindu temple and a mosque. It mirrors as well some national uncertainty over how and where to draw the line between church and state.

Even as President Bush laces his speeches with references to God and the battle against evil, a Central Valley city proud of its conservatism and religious faith cannot completely agree on whether to attach the Lord’s name to its main municipal building.

“I was brought up in a Christian home. I certainly believe in God,” Mayor Harvey Hall said recently, sitting in his City Hall office a few feet from a large color photograph of himself with George W. and Laura Bush.

“But as mayor I felt it was necessary to put my personal feelings aside and comment on what I thought best for the people of Bakersfield,” he said. “This is a divisive issue. We had segments of a number of faiths on both sides.”

Hall did not vote on posting the motto. As mayor, he only casts a vote when there is a tie on the council. This matter passed 6 to 1.

Strong Opinions on Both Sides

City Hall received about 1,200 signatures in favor of the proposal, and more than a dozen residents appeared before the council to urge approval.

But there was also passionate disagreement.

About 10 residents spoke against the posting at the council meeting. And the Bakersfield Californian has printed a slew of letters on the topic, many of them strongly worded protests.

“It was really interesting to see supporters argue for the motto with such fanaticism. But why?” wrote one man. “Because they want nothing more than to impose their religious ideas in any way possible. Do not say it promotes unity. It is a lie.”

Wrote another: “Putting signs up with God’s name on government buildings cheapens religious values, rather than sanctifying them.” Others described the motto placement “an appalling idea,” and an “insidious and unprincipled proposal.”

Councilwoman Jacquie Sullivan, author of the proposal, said she was surprised by the opposition. “We’re a conservative community,” she said. But she is also sure most of the people of Bakersfield will be happy to see the phrase on City Hall.

After all, she and others point out, “In God We Trust” has been the national motto since the 1950s and been stamped on American coins since the Civil War. Religious wording is chiseled into the stone of federal buildings in Washington.

“I listen to a Christian radio station,” said Sullivan, a real estate agent. “I heard about a year ago that back East they have these mottos. It’s very obvious the [nation’s] framers depended on God.”

A new Michigan law encourages placement of “In God We Trust” on public buildings.

The Virginia legislature just passed a bill requiring the state’s public schools to post the phrase in a prominent place. Some school boards in Florida have done the same thing.

Sullivan said she was somewhat shaken by criticism that the posting is divisive, but she has been applauded by many.

“We are so concerned in not wanting to exclude, we have given up a lot of our heritage and the right to hold firm and stand firm for what the majority believes in,” she said.

Praise, Pillory for Dissenter

Sue Benham was the only council member to vote against the motto placement.

Some townspeople have thanked her, said she deserves a medal for her courage, scolded her that she will not receive God’s blessing and warned her she will never be reelected.

A part-time public defender who has lived in Bakersfield since 1980, Benham has been in office less than two years. She said that if her vote costs her reelection, she can live with it. “It would be OK because I really believe in the principle of keeping religion and civil matters separate.”

The motto, she said, “represents a mainstream Christian viewpoint. And because it does, it’s inappropriate to place on a civic building. I felt there was a downside, excluding good citizens in our community.”

Bakersfield’s 247,000 residents are still predominantly Christian. But as the city grows, it is becoming more diverse. The legacy of Dust Bowl immigrants has been diluted by new arrivals from outside the region and the country.

Along with Baptist, Assembly of God and Pentecostal churches, Bakersfield has a Hindu temple, a Sikh temple and an Islamic center.

When more than 5,000 people gathered in town for a prayer service for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu clergy spoke along with Christians and Jews.

The Muslim, Hindu and Sikh communities did not join in discussion of whether City Hall should bear God’s name. Indeed, in an interview, Sayed Rashed, imam of the Bakersfield Islamic Center, said local Muslims have no objection to installing the motto. “I support it. I wish everybody believes in God.”

The broadening spectrum of local faiths and ethnicities was nonetheless a factor in the debate.

When the motto proposal emerged, said the Rev. Jenell Mahoney of the First Congregational Church, “It felt a little bit like sensitivities to other perspectives were kind of challenged.”

She said she spoke against it, “not wanting to do anything that would drive the community apart.”

At the Canyon Hills Assembly of God, one of the largest churches in town, with 2,000 members, Associate Pastor Steven Vinson fished a coin from his desk drawer and held it up. He said he could not understand objections to posting a religious phrase imprinted on the national currency.

“The only group it would be a challenge for is atheists, maybe agnostics. And that represents a very small segment of society.... It’s part of our heritage.”

He said he was a bit amazed the motto became an issue in Bakersfield: “Even in this city, we’re probably not as conservative as we were 20 years ago. “