Following a threat by Rich Fitzgerald, Allegheny County chief executive, that he would veto a bill if Allegheny County Council voted to approve displaying the motto “In God We Trust” in the county courthouse's Gold Room, the council voted 6-8 that God is not welcome in Allegheny County.
Fitzgerald claimed the motto would send a message to those of the Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim and other faiths, and to atheists, that they would not be welcome in Allegheny County. His message, and that of the eight council members who voted not to display the motto, is that God and all persons believing in God are not welcome any longer in Allegheny County.
If Fitzgerald would have polled each faith he believed would be offended, he would have learned that each of them took no offense to the motto except the atheists. Why are he and those eight council members favoring this small percentage of our population over the 90 percent who believe in a God?
I would urge you to contact the following council members and express your objections: Barbara Daly Danko, James Ellenbogen, Nicholas Futules, Michael J. Finnerty, Amanda Green Hawkins, John DeFazio, Charles Martoni and Robert J. Macey.
John Kostelac
White Oak
