Motto's legal status revisited

Earlier, I told you about a town in Louisiana that has as its motto, "Faith. Family. Community."

I speculated that the city had chosen this motto solely as a salvo against those who might question its constitutionality under the establishment clause. But just today, I've had a lot of discussion with folks about whether it is indeed constitutional.

It's not the type of issue I wish to dwell on, since I'd rather talk about the fleecing of workers and about corporate bankrolling of right-wing think tanks. But I'd rather the topic at hand be fought on my terms than in a courtroom. So I'm delving into it more here, so we can settle it.

Most folks I've talked to seem to believe the city's motto is unconstitutional. I'd tend to agree. But why is "In God We Trust" allowed as the national motto? Since the courts have permitted that, then wouldn't they also have to allow the motto in question here?

Welp, I've been looking over case law, and the courts' reasoning for upholding "In God We Trust" doesn't seem to apply to the Louisiana town's motto. In Aronow v. United States, a federal court said "In God We Trust" was "patriotic or ceremonial" and not intended to sponsor religion.

If we can be reasonably sure that the goal of the Louisiana city was to inflame a battle to lay the groundwork for acts that are more clearly unconstitutional, then I think it's fair to say the city's motto is unconstitutional. Making political hay by goading people into suing the city is not what I call "ceremonial."

My view is a hard pill for many folks to swallow. But one of my main goals in life is to make sure the Constitution is followed.