National news outlet picks up on ‘under God’ billboard controversy in Asheville and across N.C.

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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A national news outlet is interviewing people in Asheville for a story following the controversy over dueling billboards in Asheville, and across North Carolina, that present different wording for the Pledge of Allegiance.

ABC News interviewed the Rev. Ralph Sexton, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, Sexton said Friday. Sexton and the We Still Pray organization paid for four digital billboards over the July Fourth weekend that featured a soaring eagle with the words “One nation under God.”

The billboards were a response to another set of signs that went up across the state in June. Those billboards, with the words “One nation indivisible” emblazoned on top of an American flag, were put up by the Independence Day project of the N.C. Secular Association, a coalition of groups including the Western North Carolina Atheists. The group paid $15,000 to put billboards up here, in Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Wilmington and Winston-Salem.

The secular group said the signs were intended to make the point that Americans who don’t believe in God can still be patriotic. The phrase “under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954.

In an interview Friday morning, Sexton said his church community felt it was important to respond with billboards of their own.

“We cannot ignore that we are a people of faith,” Sexton said. “My concern is that if we lose our legacy, lose our history, we’re not going in the right direction. Sexton added that he wants to use his group’s billboards to educate people about how the words “under God” were added to the pledge in 1954.

Sexton said an ABC News crew followed him Thursday, interviewed him and shot video of new vinyl billboards being manufactured. One of them is up now on Patton Avenue near Malvern Hills, he said.

Sexton also said he suggested that the news crew interview Asheville City Councilman Cecil Bothwell, who is an atheist and who was the center of national news attention himself late last year when he was sworn into office.

At the time, an activist said he would challenge Bothwell’s ability to serve because the North Carolina Constitution prohibits anyone who denies “almighty God” from holding office. Federal courts have repeatedly held that, despite the state constitution, nobody can be prohibited from serving because of their religious beliefs.