No one really knows what started the Great Islamic
Conversion of Arkansas, but once it got going, it was unstoppable. Not that
everyone in Arkansas became a Muslim, of course. There remained some atheists, agnostics, and
none-of-the-aboves, especially around centers of higher learning and middle
learning. Steadfast Christians remained in greater numbers than the non-believers, although they held a
plurality in only three of the less populous counties. Many Christians moved out
of state.
That North Dakota went through its neo-pagan revival
starting just two months later, has, of course, multiplied the conspiracy
theories – theories involving exotic mixtures of political, religious and
extraterrestrial agents with pharmacological, viral-genetic, and hypnotic agencies.
As there is precious little hard
evidence supporting any of these theories, I will not here descend into that
altercation, which is so completely consuming our cable news and internet.
My interest, instead, is in a relatively minor legal issue
arising from the new state mottos of Arkansas and North Dakota. The latter
state has adopted: “In Gods We Trust,” while the Arkansans prefer “In Allah We
Trust.” Both states display their new mottos prominently on official documents, and in state offices, drivers’
license bureaus and court rooms.
