A city mayor in Michigan has said he will counter a recently approved atheist booth by distributing religious posters through his office.
Last year, Warren City Mayor Jim Fouts denied a request by Douglas Marshall, resident of Warren and member of the atheist group Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), to put a "reason booth" right next to the prayer booth in the city hall's atrium.
Marshall had intended to use the booth to promote free thought, and had requested to display his booth at 11am to 3pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. These are also the hours and days that the prayer booth operates in the Warren City Hall.
Fouts denied the request, describing the FFRF as "an anti-religion group intending to deprive all organised religions of their constitutional freedoms or at least discourage the practice of religion."
Marshall complained that Fouts' denial is a violation of his rights to free speech, and maintained that the FFRF was not involved in his efforts to maintain the "reason booth."
The FFRF, together with the the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU), pursued a federal lawsuit against the City of Warren in response to the denial. The reason booth was eventually approved by US Magistrate Judge Michael J Hluchaniuk last month.
Mayor Fouts told the Christian News Network that he would distribute "In God We Trust" posters through the Mayor's Office partly in response to the decision. He also expressed concern over the verdict.
"The prayer station had been functioning for years without any problems or any controversy. They're now allowed to have an atheist station under the euphemistic guise of a reason station," he said.
The mayor said that his effort to distribute the posters is part of a wider campaign by In God We Trust America.
"I think the city of Warren will become the most prominent and the most visible and maybe the largest city to do this," he told the Christian News Network.
