Nearly a century later, in the early years of the Cold War, Congress voted to make "In God We Trust" the national motto (replacing the original motto, "E pluribus unum" — "Out of many, one") and voted, in 1957, to engrave it on all U.S. currency. It was a way to symbolically say that Americans, unlike Communists, aren't godless, Haynes says, and "that we will triumph not because of us but because of our dependence on almighty God."

In the 21st century, this history of God-fearing belief in America as blessed still runs deep in the American psyche, Haynes says. "Try to take it away and people are very, very anxious about it." In 2003, a Gallup Poll found that 90 percent of Americans favor the motto on the nation's money. "Not because 90 percent are deeply religious people but because Americans define their country this way," says Haynes. "It's an emotional issue for people."

Concerned over Supreme Court rulings that stuck down teacher-led prayer and the posting of the Ten Commandments in the classroom, many evangelical groups now see the motto as a way to recover lost ground, he says.

There has been a push in recent years in some states to either mandate or officially allow public schools to post a copy of the motto. Utah, along with Virginia and Mississippi, is one of only three states that require the display somewhere in each school; only Mississippi mandates a framed poster, minimum 11 by 14, "in each classroom, school auditorium and school cafeteria."

In Utah, there are no requirements about size or placement. (One joke making the rounds when the Legislature debated the bill in 2002 was that schools could simply tape a penny to a wall.) Enforcement relies on yearly reporting by each school district to the State Office of Education, and by that assessment "data show they are all doing it," says SOE lawyer Carol Lear.

The one-in-every-school requirement isn't good enough for Oak Norton, a Highland parent who has raised money to supply "In God We Trust" posters to every classroom in the Alpine District. He has also shipped posters to several other districts, including Ogden and Duchesne, and has now turned over the project to Boy Scout Talmadge Cromar of Cedar Hills in the hopes of getting the posters in every classroom in the state.

Norton says he already has donors willing to pay for additional posters once Talmadge finds out how many are needed. If any district declines to distribute the posters, they'll be delivered to the schools directly, he says.

"We're not forcing anyone to do anything," Norton says. "We're just saying, if they want to post it, great."

Norton says his campaign stems from a feeling that America's problems result from the country "losing our moral compass." The country can't be safe and enjoy freedom without a "strong morality," he says. "And the source of that morality is God."