KKK Venerating a Cross
Photo: Paul Souders / Stone / Getty
Usually terrorists are people who break the law to achieve some political goal. But what about people who insist that the law be followed and challenge someone who is themselves breaking the law? Well, in Whiteville, Tennessee, that's terrorism too -- or maybe it's the only form of terrorism, I'm not sure. The accusation of Mayor James Bellar that atheists are "terrorists" for insisting that the town adhere to the law on church/state separation isn't exactly coherent.
The case involves a Christian cross erected on top of the town's water tower. The water tower is public property. The cross was erected by a group of private citizens -- they paid for it and put it up. No other group has been granted such a privilege, which means that the town itself can be held responsible for it and essentially "owns" it. Ergo, the town is officially endorsing, privileging, and promoting a religious message and that's illegal.
"They are terrorists as far as I'm concerned," said Mayor James Bellar about the Freedom From Religion Foundation. "They are alleging that some Whiteville resident feels very, very intimidated by this cross." ... "As a matter of fact, I don't even think it's a Whiteville resident," he said. "We don't have people of that belief here and if we do they're not going to raise that kind of ruckus for the rest of the town."...
It's just a cross on the water tower," he said. "All we're doing is exercising our right to practice our beliefs down here but this organization is now going to stymie that. We're not out here knocking on doors trying to convert people." ...
Source: Fox News
It's hard to believe that Mayor James Bellar cannot comprehend that fact that when the government endorses, supports, or privileges any religious messages or any religion generally, it's no longer a mater of private citizens simply "exercising" a right to practice religious beliefs. Citizens do that by going to church or erecting a cross in their own yards, not by appropriating public property to promote their private religious ideas.
How do you suppose James Bellar would react if Muslims had erected a large crescent on the town water tower? Do you think he'd just leave it there and defend it in court as citizens "exercising their right to practice their beliefs"? Of course not -- and that's the point. He's defending the presence of a Christian cross when he wouldn't similarly defend the symbols of any other religion. That's favoritism and that's what's illegal.
The mayor said the atheist group's demands are "very frustrating" calling it a sad state of affairs.
"A terrorist is more than a guy that flies the planes into the building," he said. "It's anyone who can disrupt your way of living, destroy your lifestyle, cause you anxiety. It's more than killing people. If they can disrupt your routine in life, that's what they want to do. They are terrorists as far as I'm concerned."
You know, if the mayor of my town called me a terrorist for daring to suggest that he obey the law or for daring to suggest that the government shouldn't be endorsing any religions, I might hesitate to speak out publicly as well. That sort of inflammatory rhetoric is dangerous when it comes from anyone, but it's doubly so when elected government officials start using it to lambast their own citizens.
It's unlikely that anyone who spoke out on behalf of church/state separation or the rule of law in that town would be very safe from their "good" Christian neighbors. I certainly wouldn't feel very safe in that town.
Fortunately, though, not everyone there supports the mayor:
The Jackson Sun editorialized about the controversy, asking the town to remove the cross.
"To our fellow Christians who may disagree, we issue a respectful challenge borrowed from a local church youth production: God doesn't call governments to be Christians, he calls Christians to be Christians," the newspaper wrote. "The government is not the instrument to spread God's word. We are."
This is exactly the right attitude to take. It's the sort of attitude that every Christian in America should have: promoting my religion is my job, not a job for the government. Isn't it interesting how the people most in favor of government-backed religion also tend to be the people most opposed to the government funding arts, education, welfare, etc.?
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