Ohio's state motto will survive without a challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Ohio American Civil Liberties Union said yesterday.

The state ACLU had fought the motto, "With God, all things are possible," contending that it advocated a religious preference. But after the full 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a three-judge panel of the court earlier this year, the group had to decide if it wanted to argue the case before the highest court in the land.

"The time for making that decision expires next week, and after a considerable amount of thought we've decided not to pursue the case further," said Raymond Vasvari, legal director for the Ohio ACLU.

"It's no secret that there's a conservative bloc on the Supreme Court that has not been charitable in preserving the integrity of the separation between church and state," Vasvari added. "Rather than provide a vehicle or opportunity to further erode that separation, we've decided to be risk-averse."

Ohio is the only state with a motto quoting directly from a Bible verse - the Gospel of Matthew.

In 1997, the Rev. Matthew Peterson, minister of the Fairmount Presbyterian Church in Cleveland Heights, challenged the motto in a suit filed by the ACLU. The complaint said the motto improperly linked government with religion.

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