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The mayor of Whiteville, Tenn. said his community is under attack from a national atheist organization that is threatening to sue unless they remove a cross atop the town’s water tower.
“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.”
The mayor told Fox News Radio that the cross was erected on the town’s water tower about eight years ago by a private group of citizens. They collected private donations to cover the costs.
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.”
But the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation said the cross is a violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. They’ve given the mayor until the end of October to remove the cross. If he refuses, they have threatened to sue.
“The law is very clear on this,” Freedom From Religion Foundation co-president Dan Barker told Fox News Radio. “A secular city may not promote or hinder religion. We don’t have a problem with believers putting up crosses wherever they want, but this is a cross put up by the city on the city water tower.”
Barker said they’ve been sending letters to the city since last year demanding that the cross be taken down, acting on behalf of an unnamed resident who complained.
“It offends many residents,” Barker said of the cross. “Many of them think the cross symbol is an offensive symbol – that it’s an insult to humanity.”
But Mayor Bellar said he doesn’t believe that’s true.
“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.”
Mayor Bellar said he’s inclined to remove the cross rather than face a costly lawsuit.
However, the town council voted to consult with the Alliance Defense Fund about their legal options.
“This is their cause in life – to ride up and down the highway and find small towns that maybe have a religious symbol somewhere on public property,” he said. “I have to admit it – checking their website, they’re batting 100 percent on this stuff.”
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.”
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.”
Barker said he found the comparison to be ironic.
“He’s the one breaking the law,” Barker said. “He’s the one who is anti-American, who is against diversity, against religious freedom and yet because we complain – and point out the fact that he’s breaking the law – he calls us the terrorist.”
He said it would be unwise for the town of Whiteville to defy their demands.
“Bring it on,” Barker told Fox News Radio. “If they’re going to fight it, they will lose this case.”
I agree, sell the water tower to the foundation that raised the money, and have the contract stating that the city will continue with upkeep and never have to pay for its use!
In the 1930s, Germany first went after the Insane, then the Gypsies, then the Jews,
If we don't protest the Nazi style methods of the Atheists that want to destroy religon freedom in this world then all political parties that see things their way.
Yes I know that some religons are intolerant of others… and that should not be allowed to happen either.
See the problems "religion" causes? Leave religion in the churches!
The law is quite clear, government, at any level, is prohibited from promoting religion. This is a simple thing.
I really don't understand why Christians think they should get special privileges. They would be up in arms if the symbol of another religion was on that water tower.
You cannot remove God by removing a cross from a water tower, as I see it the people have as much right to have it there as the one person who doesn't want it there to have it removed. Might I suggest that everyone who supports the cross being there put one on the property, maybe in their yard or on a structure on their property. People have the right afforded by the constitution to say what they will but God is a might God and he will will in the end…..
…so we are to be tolerant of atheists who do not want to tolerate Christians? Hey, I never hear about them demanding Muslims halt the practice of closing down 'public' streets in order to observe prayer time and I never hear about Christians demanding they stop displaying their atheistic demography on 'public' buses. Rather they want to admit it or not atheism is a 'belief'…a RELIGION itself! …and I, as a Christian demand they remove all 'public' signs denouncing Christianity!!!
The problem is Mayor Bellar, the cross isn't big enough. If the majority of the Town wants the cross there then it should stay. No minority should tell the majority what to do. You can negotiate it but not demand it. If you don't like it there and don't want to negotiate than MOVE to some town that thinks like you. Maybe a town called Hell. You will feel right at home.
I wish I were a liberal atheist so I wouldn't have to have a concience and not feel guilty for things that in the past were looked down upon. They call it maturing as a society I call it loss of self respect for themselves and others
our constitution has been distorted down through the years. The united states was founded on christianity. THis is the freedom of religion our for fathers were talking about.It was not talking about all other false religions.There is only one true religion, and that is based upon the shed blood of Jesus,and faith in Him .alone.The cross is the symbol of
the christian faith.One Nation Under GOD.Therefor it shoul be allowed to be displayed anywhere in this country.l
You gotta love the pseudo intellectuals who have no idea that the constitution was drafted to keep government out of religion not to keep religion out of the government.
OUR GOD CREATED THE WORLD, AND LED US-AMERICANS TO THIS LAND – WE DID NOT COME OVER HERE WITH MUSLIMS, MORMONS, ISLAMS TERRORISTS, HINDUS, OR ANY OTHER KIND OF IDOL-WORSHIPING GARBAGE. THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD, AND WHETHER ANYONE OF THE RADICALS BELIEVE IT, OR NOT, MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. WHEN OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST ASKS ANY OF THOSE RADICALS IN THE WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT, 'WHAT DID YOU FIND OFFENSIVE ABOUT THE CROSS?', THEY CAN TELL THE CREATOR JUST WHAT THEY THINK, AND THEN WALK THE PLANK RIGHT INTO HELL'S FIRES!
The town should remove the cross and then every Christian in the town should erect a cross on their personal property. They can fight that in court!
I'm not particularly religious, but If I was the mayor/town council, I'd sell the rights to the water tower & land it's erected on to the group of private citizens. It then becomes private property and not a government holding. The residents can figure out how to maintain it. It's a water tower, not a government building.
By the time I was 16, 65 years ago, I had read most of the Bible, the Torah , the Koran, and the Bagavad Gita. All appeared to be interesting stories written by different groups of men (not wormen) about some supernatural beings. Since there is no evidence for their existence, I concluded they were false beliefs. As a result, according to the Mayor, I am a terrorist despite the fact that I have not yet tried to kill a Christian.
Atheist should be grateful they live in this country that was built on religious freedom where they can cry about what Christians are doing. Let them put up their own symbol, build their own places to go where they can do and not worship. Do you see Christians complaining about Atheist?
I am an agnostic I believe in living peacefully and letting other people do the same if a cross is all the bothers you you have a great life live it and let others live and believe as they want
If Atheist truly believe that Church and government should be separate they should stop using U.S. currency it says In God We Trust On it.
They don’t believe in God fine than they should go to hell but be quite about it.
Move the cross to that private site near the highway, that way MORE people see it, city government gets out of endorsing religion and everyone wins! FFRF is NOT trying to STOP believers from being Christian they are trying to STOP them from using government to endorse being Christian. the only losers if you move the cross are bullies and haters who like the way the water tower intimidates anyone who might think differently that Christianity sits perched atop and above the rule of law in this town.
If this would "destroy their lifestyle", they need a new lifestyle.
(Good reporting from Todd Starnes)
This is how to deal with the atheist. Put a cross on your front lawn! http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/frankenmu… They will go away running! True story!
The community pitched in to put the cross up.
If the community wants it down someone should go door to door collecting votes from those in the community to keep it or take it down.
Others from outside the community should have NO say in the matter.
Nuff said
One positive thing in all this is, they may cause the cross to be taken down, but they can't take the one who died on the cross for our sins out of our hearts.
is there some sort of problem posting my comments?
Look around ! The farther the U.S.A. get's from GOD ,the less we prosper! (fact)!!!! Wake up time is short.
Timeguardian, atheists don't care if you put a hundred crosses on your front lawn. Why do Christians have such a difficult time grasping the concept of public versus private property? So go ahead, install your religious symbols in your yard for all the world to see, as long as your neighborhood association doesn't object.
Athiests are nothing but terrorists. And it's true that if they don't believe in God, then why would a cross have a meaning to them? They have nothing better to do than just cause trouble for the 95% of us that do believe in God. It's time athiests get real jobs and leave the rest of America alone.
"It is a truism that almost any sect, cult or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so." – Arthur C Clarke
With no irony intended whatsoever, I say thank God for groups like FFRF who work to keep America a safe haven for those who follow any faith (or none at all). True Christians should be thanking FFRF from the bottom of their hearts for protecting their constitutional rights to practice their religion free of interference from other religions.
I am quite certain that were we talking about a Wiccan symbol, or an Islamic symbol, or even a Nazi symbol, the good Christians of Whiteville, TN would not be fighting so hard for the mayor to keep that symbol on the water tower.
An athiest goes into a town that has a cross and states -Unconstitutional! Christians are favored here.
A Christian goes into a town that does not have a cross-now it is Constitutional because athiest are favored here?
Perhaps the Christians in the town should display crosses in their front yards. Afterall, Washington DC is repleat with buildings showing how our forefathers were Christians and gave God the glory
No town should have a religious icon on its water tower. Christians should promote Christianity by their acts, not by offending people.
What a bunch of a…..h……s commenting. Evil exists only so that it can be overcome by good.
That is why these good atheists are fighting to overcome the evil christians who are trying to ignore the law. Stop putting your mythological nonsense on our public buildings. The government should be doing the work of government not promoting religion.
The cross has been a symbol in America for very long time. Why should it be any more offensive to someone than a woman with a damn rag over her face. What bullsh*t this is. If people want thier cross then they should have it! It offends me that stupid muslims walk around with thier face covered and nothing is ever said. It offends me that sharia law is being taught in our schools without the parents knowing it. So why is no one saying anything about this murdering raping religion or should i say i say CULT. All you hear now is " the cross offends me" or "Jesus offends me". This country is no longer free, because of others coming here from other countries and always being "OFFENED" . Well if things America "OFFEND you that much, THEN TAKE YOUR ASS BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM. IF THE REST OF YOU DONT WANT TO SEE RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS THEN GO TO CALI, THEY LOVE BEING ANTI-AMERCIA. BUT YOU SHOULD LEAVE OTHER PEOPLES TOWNS AND BELIEFES ALONE.
Atheism, the belief that there was nothing, and nothing happened to nothing, and then nothing magically exploded for no reason, creating everything, and then a bunch of everything magically rearranged itself for no reason into self replicating bits of stuff, and then there were dinosaurs. Makes perfect sense.
And now they are telling us a cross on a city water tank is bad for the Country. Uh huh!
Atheism, the lack of belief in any deities. That's it.
Christianity, the belief that a cosmic Hebrew Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree
Wow, no wonder it seems silly to you. You have no understanding of any of the things you are attempting to ridicule. Your argument is called a "straw man" argument, because you are arguing against a perspective of your own invention, not the actual perspective of an athiest / scientist / person with book larnin' or whatever other caricature is in your head.
Because I don't believe that a cosmic Hebrew Zombie who was his own father can make me live forever if I symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him I accept him as my master, so he can remove an evil force from my soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree, then I'm a terrorist? Really? I think the word that Mayor was looking for was "Sane", not "Terrorist".
To all the Christians complaining that that those evil atheists are trying to take God out of everything you are truly deluded. The problem is not the cross, it is where it is placed. Placing it on government property is to imply that the government of Whiteville endorses a specific religion and that is not allowed by our constitution.
The FFRF is in no way saying that you cannot have any crosses, symbols, churches, bibles, etc. nor are they trying to stop you from worshiping in any way you feel you need to. They are only trying to keep government and religion separate, as it should be.
Move the cross somewhere other than government property. If you really feel the need to display your religious symbols, build a new tower, 1000 feet high if that is what you want, and display it there.
To those of you who appear to be of the "might makes right" variety, those of you who spout the nonsense of "majority rules" and "get out of you don't like it", you REALLY need to actually read the Constitution. I might even suggest you go back to school and actually listen this time as you are taught how our government and country works. I would also ask you some questions. If the majority says it is OK to murder, does that make it so? If the majority says it is OK to discriminate against blacks, does that make it so? If the majority says it is OK to force any minority to be marginalized, does that make it so? Our Constitution guarantees everyone's rights and obligations not just the group that happens to be the biggest.
I presume by cosmic Hebrew zombie you sarcasticly refer to the risen Christ.
Which if you believe in no deities, does appear foolish, no less so to us than your disbelief in anything. Wjhile I admire the cold logic of Atheism. I am perplexed by its biased direction and vociferous crusade against Christianity.
Does not the first amendment protect freedom of worship from state encroachment? So how does that offend one who disbelieves in a deity? Or that the choice of a city to dislay a religious symbol establishes a church? It does nothing of the sort, only a belief, not a church.
If you don't believe in it, why does it bother you that others do or chose to display it ?
Why do we not hear Atheists complain about Easter Bunny displays, easter egg rolls in city parks, Jack o Lanterns, other pagan or symbolic religious displays? Strange.
Who do you think you are to come into a town you have no right, or business, to be in and start demanding change. America was built on the philosophy of free speech, however, the only ones being shut up are Christians. Stay in Wisconsin you fanatical terrorist. I am with you mayor, keep the fight and don't let them silence you or your town. By the way, if this is such a hot topic item in your town then do as our founding fathers intended and vote on it….let the people speak fir themselves, instead of having some fanatical do it for them…
They came into the town because someone in the town who doesn't want to be identified contacted them. The town is breaking the law so FFRF agreed to represent the local resident.
As an atheist all religions are similarly non-logical. The same holds true for new age believe as promoted by Deepak Chopra or "alternative" medicine as homeopathy. That's not the issue here. The issue is that government has to stay neutral on any matter of religion. And that includes the placement of crosses on public property. If we do not follow that principle, then one day Christians might be hindered in exercising their religious beliefs even in private. The Founding Fathers were very well aware of that. Don't believe me? Read sme history books.
Thank you Stephen for sharing your agenda and opinion. I'm sure everyone thanks you for the constitutional enlightenment you offer as well. No doubt you are well versed in such matters.
So many people out there have no fear in God. Our constitution that was wrote by our forefathers was meant as such "Separation of Church and State" meaning that the government needs to stay out of the affairs of the Church, but Church should and can be by law involved in government. so many are going to lose there sole in the next life for there fight against God. At least they won't have to fight to remove a cross where they will be for eternity, there are no crosses in hell.
The part of the Constitution you missed is the Establishment clause in the First Amendment: read it, brush up on SCOTUS rulings supporting it, and perhaps review some of the history of our founding fathers (such as the fact that by today's standards many of them would be Deists/agnostics).
Are the Mormons religion really viewed less religious or say the Muslims or Jehova Witnesses , Seven day Adventists . I thought the president was of Muslim religion. Most of my friends are Mormons- I'm a Roman catholic and I find them to be of good character as many Jordanians I associate with. I tend to judge people on a one to one basis .
Every christian in this country should purchase a small white cross and flood the offices of this organization with them. As a matter of fact every citizen of this country should oppose situations of this type. If someone from Whiteville was complaining there might be a cause to take the cross down. But for a bootlegged group 1000 miles away to demand this is an absolute outrage. Unfortunately this is a natural outcome of subjugating a country to those who have little or no understanding of the principals on which it was founded. I am not a citizen of Whiteville but I am willing to support your response to this. How absurd! This outfit claims to have 16000 plus members. That constitutes far less than 1/100 of one percent of the population. Unreal!
The mayor's claim that there aren't any "people of that belief" in Whiteville sounds just like President Ahmadinejad's claim that there aren't any gay people in Iran. Funny how people will keep things to themselves if they know they will be harassed and persecuted…
That is, good people of Whiteville, why a religious symbol looming over the town from atop a public structure is inappropriate. It is intimidating. It suggests that Christian is what a good citizen of that town should be.
I did not spend 20 years on active duty so some slackjaw with an IQ around room temperature can call me a terrorist. As others have said, this is clearly a violation of the law as decided in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971). His entitlement to his religion is not in question, it's his entitlement to promote said religion as a function of his office.
I am also disheartened to see such hateful and bigoted comments from people who call themselves Americans. As an American that wrote a blank check to the US to be cashed at any value, up to and including my life, I thought this country was worth that sacrifice.
It is puzzling that people don't seem to know that the entire legislative, executive, and judicial branches 100% endorsed a statement in 1797 that said "As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion" yet christians seem to demand they get special consideration.
Nobody ever said that atheists were smart……and this deal certainly confirms that!
I was born and raised in Whiteville, TN and I live in Wisconsin. When I heard about this, I was embarassed. I was asked why are ppl from Wisconsin coming down here statrting trouble? Whiteville is a small town that if you blinked your eyes while driving through it you would miss it. So, why are these ppl concerned about what religous practice goes on there? They would never probably go there or if they have, they would never go back. Leave the ppl of my hometown alone! The FFRF don't want christains to sholve religion down their throat; Ok, we don't want them sholving atheistism down ours! We have rights too. You make me sick to my stomach and to think you came from Wisconsin, where I pay taxes and call my home. God have mercy on you. I hope the town of Whiteville stand united against you and the devil that brought you there.
What I don't understand is everyone continues to name the "government". Who is that person, the 'government". I thought
the "government" were the people who MADE government. So,
if the "people" that make up the majority of the government wish to have a cross, then let the MAJORITY have what they want. I believe
it is the MAJORITY who RULES…….
This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. How is it, in a time when so many talented broadcasters are out of work, an idiot like Todd Starnes manages to get work…?
Why not just sue the "Freedom" group for violating your rights of freedom of expression. Isn't that our First Amendment right?
The Atheists say we are imposing our religion beliefs on them this can work both ways but they get win in court system & we lose our freedom of prayer in school or taking down a cross& they win whats wrong with this picture??? The Atheists is trying to take away our religious freedom imposing their beliefs on us..why are the court system taking away our prayer or a banner that's been in the hall way for many years that's not hurting anything,So the court's let the Atheists impose their religion on us.