Tom Riner, a Democratic representative who has served 26 years in the Kentucky legislature, has repeatedly tried to inject religion into Kentucky laws, the New York Times reports:
In December, an atheist organization and a group of state residents sued Kentucky over Mr. Riner’s most recent incursion: a 2006 law he sponsored requiring that the state’s homeland security office post a plaque recognizing God’s role in keeping the country safe.
“The church-state divide is not a line I see,” Mr. Riner, a Baptist minister, said of the lawsuit. “What I do see is an attempt to separate America from its history of perceiving itself as a nation under God.”
…While many Kentuckians see the religious displays as an antidote to what they view as the growing immorality in society, Mr. Riner cites the displays as a bulwark against the drift by teachers and politicians away from the historical role that God played in the thinking of the nation’s forefathers.
“If we don’t affirm the right to recognize divine providence, then that right will disappear,” Mr. Riner said. “It’s part of our history. Whether we believe it personally or not, it’s what America is.”
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