Three local secular humanist organizations have installed a billboard in Price Hill featuring a 1984 quote from former President Ronald Reagan on the separation of church and state.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s Cincinnati Metro Chapter, the Community of Reason and the Free Inquiry Group each contributed equally to fund the 14-by-48-foot sign at West Eighth Street, Glenway Avenue and State Street. They placed a smaller digital sign at Glenway Crossing.
Both billboards show Reagan’s image alongside the words:
“We establish no religion in this country. We command no worship. We mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and state are and must remain separate.”
Organizers placed the sign in a largely conservative area to stress that the constitutional divide between government and religion is not a partisan issue. In a joint statement, they wrote that they hope his “earnest countenance” will attract attention and “engender thoughtful reflection.”
“The billboard is intended to be educational,” they said, “informing even a population which may have supported the current weaponizing of religion for political and ideological purposes, that doing so is not in keeping with what it means to be an American.”
The smaller sign will run for two weeks. The larger billboard will stay up for at least four weeks, possibly into September.
