S.22.1-59: Totally Secular Act (Passed)

[Mr. Reactionary]

TOTALLY SECULAR ACT

TITLE I: PURPOSE

Whereas, the official language of the Southern Region is English; and

Whereas, the current motto of the Southern Region is in a foreigner language other than English; and

Whereas, the motto of the Southern Region should be capable of being read by English-only speakers; and

Whereas, the purpose of a Regional Motto is to foster unity, patriotism, and civic respect; and

Whereas, the phrase "In God We Trust" has been consistently used as a unifying phrase and motto of public celebration for literally centuries;

Now, therefore, be it ordained and resolved by the Southern Chamber of Delegates:

TITLE II: REGIONAL MOTTO

1. The Regional Symbols Act shall be amended as follows:

...

Motto

6. Recognizing that Atlasia is founded upon principles that recognize that individual rights are bestowed by a sovereign God, the motto of the South shall be Quaerite Prime Regnum Dei, translated to "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God" "In God We Trust" in English. The Motto shall be displayed at all regional government properties that are accessible to the public or where government business is regularly conducted, as well as in any classroom in any public school in the Southern Region that receives Regional funding, as a condition of receiving such funding. The former motto shall be designated motto emeritus.

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

Sponsor: Governor LT

[Mr. Reactionary]

This is a nice, secular bill to establish a Regional Motto that is actually in our official language of English. We adopt a nice, unifying, secular Motto that was the National Motto for a long time and has been on our money for almost 150 years. The Supreme Court has previously protected this motto.

[Mr. Reactionary]

Since this is a pretty straight forward bill that has no fiscal or criminal impact but is nonetheless important to active litigation, Id like to request unanimous consent that we waive the 72 hr rule and proceed to a vote. 24 hours for objections.

[GM Team Member and Deputy PPT WB]

I ask for this to be delayed at the very least considering this has pertinence in a current court case.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I dunno about this. I like Latin, it has a very timeless vibe to it.

[Mr. Reactionary]

I ask for this to be delayed at the very least considering this has pertinence in a current court case.

All the more reason to pass it to prevent unnecessary duplication. Especially since tge Atlasian Supreme Court can take months to do anything.

[Mr. Reactionary]

TOTALLY SECULAR ACT

TITLE I: PURPOSE

Whereas, the official language of the Southern Region is English; and

Whereas, the current motto of the Southern Region is in a foreigner language other than English; and

Whereas, the motto of the Southern Region should be capable of being read by English-only speakers; and

Whereas, the purpose of a Regional Motto is to foster unity, patriotism, and civic respect; and

Whereas, the phrase "In God We Trust" has been consistently used as a unifying phrase and motto of public celebration for literally centuries;

Now, therefore, be it ordained and resolved by the Southern Chamber of Delegates:

TITLE II: REGIONAL MOTTO

1. The Regional Symbols Act shall be amended as follows:

...

Motto

6. Recognizing that Atlasia is founded upon principles that recognize that individual rights are bestowed by a sovereign God, the motto of the South shall be Quaerite Prime Regnum Dei, translated to "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God" "In God We Trust" in English. The Motto shall be displayed at all regional government properties that are accessible to the public or where government business is regularly conducted, as well as in any classroom in any public school in the Southern Region that receives Regional funding, as a condition of receiving such funding. The former motto shall be designated motto emeritus and may continue to be used for ceremonial purposes and on official Regional stationary and shall be required on all commemorative tokens minted by the Southern Region.

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

The Governor is agreeable to this Amendment if you are Delegate Turner.

[GM Team Member and Deputy PPT WB]

I ask for this to be delayed at the very least considering this has pertinence in a current court case.

All the more reason to pass it to prevent unnecessary duplication. Especially since tge Atlasian Supreme Court can take months to do anything.

I specifically forced myself to not introduce any sort of bill pertinent to the case in the Senate. RC can back me up on this. I would rather not be interfering in our judicial process. I ask the chamber to maintain that courtesy and let this sit for the moment.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

If what I said earlier was to be construed as an objection, then I'd like to withdraw said objection.
The fate of the broader bill will be up to the Chamber at large.

[Mr. Reactionary]

I ask for this to be delayed at the very least considering this has pertinence in a current court case.

All the more reason to pass it to prevent unnecessary duplication. Especially since tge Atlasian Supreme Court can take months to do anything.

I specifically forced myself to not introduce any sort of bill pertinent to the case in the Senate. RC can back me up on this. I would rather not be interfering in our judicial process. I ask the chamber to maintain that courtesy and let this sit for the moment.

Wouldnt it be better for your brief for there to be a fixed, certain fact pattern? If we are just going to pass this after how ever many weeks this case drags on itll just wind up back at the court all over again.

The whole theory of the case (and the body of your legal research) will be on displays related to the national (or regional) motto. Let's at least give you your fact pattern.This way it solves the question of public display of the motto in classrooms as well in the same case. You can tack that into your argument so its not just the school buses; that way we can get a clean resolution for the entire issue with this case without unnecessarily pingponging cases back and forth on classrooms, school buses, mottos, etc. Even if this bill doesnt pass now, a majority of our states already require In God We Trust in the classroom. That wouldnt be immediately invalidated at regardless of the outcome of the pending case; nor our current motto that references God.

Its honestly in both of our interests to settle the issue cleanly in 1 case, because we'd just pass a bill fix after and youd be back at square 1. You still have "one region under God" for your argument as to speech thats not a regional motto.

That way this case would solve the issue of:

- Mottos mentioning God
- Non-Motto speech mentioning God
- compelled display of motto in classrooms
- compelled display of motto on buses
- compelled display of non-motto God reference on buses

Otherwise, if we dont pass this bill, the bill will at best solve:

- Non-Motto speech mentioning God
- compelled display of non-motto God reference on buses

We want our first test case of fantasy moot court to be productive and landmark, don't we?

[Mr. Reactionary]

It would appear that the honorable WB has withdrawn his objection, so with no more objections, we will now to proceed to a vote on the bill, as amended. Typical 72-24-5 Rules.

[Mr. Reactionary]

Aye

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Present, due to legal concerns. But the bill itself is fine.

[UlmerFudd]

Aye

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

Personally I don't think motto needs changing. But i'm old fashioned and this change for changes sake is silly.

[Mr. Reactionary]

Personally I don't think motto needs changing. But i'm old fashioned and this change for changes sake is silly.

Its for a lawsuit.

[reagente]

Aye

[Mr. Reactionary]

This bill passes 3-0-1-1 and awaits gubernatorial action.

TOTALLY SECULAR ACT

TITLE I: PURPOSE

Whereas, the official language of the Southern Region is English; and

Whereas, the current motto of the Southern Region is in a foreigner language other than English; and

Whereas, the motto of the Southern Region should be capable of being read by English-only speakers; and

Whereas, the purpose of a Regional Motto is to foster unity, patriotism, and civic respect; and

Whereas, the phrase "In God We Trust" has been consistently used as a unifying phrase and motto of public celebration for literally centuries;

Now, therefore, be it ordained and resolved by the Southern Chamber of Delegates:

TITLE II: REGIONAL MOTTO

1. The Regional Symbols Act shall be amended as follows:

...

Motto

6. Recognizing that Atlasia is founded upon principles that recognize that individual rights are bestowed by a sovereign God, the motto of the South shall be Quaerite Prime Regnum Dei, translated to "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God" "In God We Trust" in English. The Motto shall be displayed at all regional government properties that are accessible to the public or where government business is regularly conducted, as well as in any classroom in any public school in the Southern Region that receives Regional funding, as a condition of receiving such funding. The former motto shall be designated motto emeritus and may continue to be used for ceremonial purposes and on official Regional stationary and shall be required on all commemorative tokens minted by the Southern Region.

2. This act shall take effect immediately.