Bernie Sanders Rejects Theocracy, Defends Church State Separation

[onager]

11. In the footsteps of Culbert Olson...

Olson was the 29th governor of California from 1939 to 1943. Mostly forgotten today but he was an interesting character. The more things change, the more they stay the same...

Olson refused to say "so help me God" during his oath of office to state Supreme Court Justice William H. Waste. Olson remarked earlier to Justice Waste that "God couldn't help me at all, and that there isn't any such person." Instead, Olson said, "I will affirm."

By the first year of his governorship, Olson's proposed budget was cut by nearly 100 million dollars, plus the Governor's proposal of compulsory universal health insurance for every Californian was defeated. The Legislature also defeated legislation to raise income, bank and corporate taxes, as well as Olson's proposed bills to regulate lobbyists...

During his tenure of the governorship, Olson grew increasingly critical of the Roman Catholic Church and its presence in the state educational system. Olson gained the ire of Archbishops John J. Cantwell of Los Angeles and John J. Mitty of San Francisco, during his term in office.

A secular atheist, Olson was disturbed by the state legislature's passage of two bills in 1941, one to give free transportation to students attending Catholic schools, while the other would release Catholic children from public schools in the middle of the school day in order to attend catechism, leaving the schools and other students idle until the Catholic students' return. Olson signed into law the first bill, later citing the enormous pressure of the Catholic Church on his office and on state lawmakers. However, he vetoed the second ("early release&quot bill...

In 1957, Olson became president of the United Secularists of America, a body made up of secularists, atheists, and freethinkers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culbert_Olson