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Freedom Group Protests Cross at Charleston Firehouse
JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press Writer
COLUMBIA, S.C. - A group that supports the separation of religion and state wants a cross removed from in front of a Charleston fire station that city officials say honors nine firefighters killed battling a furniture store blaze.
The fight over the cross extends from a battle the Freedom from Religion Foundation had with the city last December when the group complained about a nativity scene in front of the same fire station. Officials added secular decorations, including snowmen, to comply with the law.
Most of the decorations came down by the new year, but the cross stayed up, the city saying it was now a memorial to the firefighters killed in June 2007, said Rebecca Markert, a lawyer for the foundation.
The foundation didn't buy the explanation, sending a letter last week to the city threatening to sue if the cross is not removed because it violates the U.S. Constitution by endorsing a specific religion. The group also said for the past five years the same cross had been removed at the same time as the Christmas items.
"We believe it is a sham to say it is now part of a permanent memorial when before it was being put up and taken down in December as part of Christmas," Markert said Tuesday.
The cross rests near a stone memorial with the names of the nine Charleston firefighters killed as they fought a blaze at the Sofa Super Store.
Lawyers for the city told officials it was a legal display because it is a secular emblem of death.
"The message communicated by the cross is clearly one of honoring fallen firefighters and not of furthering a religious purpose," lawyers for the city said in a news release.
The letter from the foundation gave the city a May 14 deadline to take down the cross.
Related
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Associated Press Writer
COLUMBIA, S.C. - A group that supports the separation of religion and state wants a cross removed from in front of a Charleston fire station that city officials say honors nine firefighters killed battling a furniture store blaze.
The fight over the cross extends from a battle the Freedom from Religion Foundation had with the city last December when the group complained about a nativity scene in front of the same fire station. Officials added secular decorations, including snowmen, to comply with the law.
Most of the decorations came down by the new year, but the cross stayed up, the city saying it was now a memorial to the firefighters killed in June 2007, said Rebecca Markert, a lawyer for the foundation.
The foundation didn't buy the explanation, sending a letter last week to the city threatening to sue if the cross is not removed because it violates the U.S. Constitution by endorsing a specific religion. The group also said for the past five years the same cross had been removed at the same time as the Christmas items.
"We believe it is a sham to say it is now part of a permanent memorial when before it was being put up and taken down in December as part of Christmas," Markert said Tuesday.
The cross rests near a stone memorial with the names of the nine Charleston firefighters killed as they fought a blaze at the Sofa Super Store.
Lawyers for the city told officials it was a legal display because it is a secular emblem of death.
"The message communicated by the cross is clearly one of honoring fallen firefighters and not of furthering a religious purpose," lawyers for the city said in a news release.
The letter from the foundation gave the city a May 14 deadline to take down the cross.
Related
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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That's a two-edged sword, and firefighters on both sides of this discussion have exhibited plenty of closed-mindedness.
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Permalink Reply by Gregory Borg on
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Ben, You have been busy. Like I said at the end of the discussion. I enjoyed the exchange. Through out I was giving an opinion, not telling anyone to remove something or do anything different. Just my opinion. I can assume that we probably think differently on many issues but the same on others. I liked your comments on the war in the west, right on the mark. Not the only time America has practiced imperialism. When someone says they went to Vietnam or Iraq to defend their right to free speech or freedom to practice their religion I have to question that they did not understand what those wars were about. They certainly were not about our personal freedoms or safety. But this is far from the issue of this already far flung discussion. I will close with what I have said all along. I love to discus things with other firefighters, I am not angry nor do I hold your opinions against you. I respect the work we all do. When we go out the door this is all left behind while we accomplish our current mission. On the street our training, brotherhood and compassion will carry the day. Train hard and be safe.
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Brother Joseph, have you read this whole blog? Pay attention.
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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Ben, it was indeed racial, validated by religious beliefs which were incorporated into Manifest Destiny, so really, it was about religion.
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I'm not angry, and never have been. I'm all about open-mindedness. Allowing the CFD firefighters to display a religious symbol at their place of employment is open minded.
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...and it was political, as well, as Manifest Destiny deprived the Native Americans of their political rights.
It was an example of the Tyranny of the Majority that John Stuart Mills spoke of in 1869.
That tyranny can be either racial, religious, political, social, or whatever.
The key point Mills makes in the first part of the essay is that you can't make people be good, you can only punish them for wrongdoing. The second point he makes is that the majority is capable of bad decisions, bad laws, and bad behavior in large groups, while making things legal that a good individual would never do.
To cross-reference my other point about good people - good people are good because of their mindset and how they treat other people. That is independent of religion, politics, or the absence of either or both.
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Permalink Reply by Ken Lees on
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The use of the word idiots, was better than what I was thinking.
And I have read pretty much all 10 pages of blogs that I can access.
If I offended you, then I apologize, but not all the comments have been in support of, or shown respect of our fallen.
I would truly hope that you are correct in stating that everyone here has that respect, but there are many statements that read otherwise.
As for anything being your fault, that wasn't directed at you. My response was not to your comment, but to those who have come across as to be attacking the memorial. This is just where my post happened to showed up in the blog.
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So, why bring him into the discussion. Falwell's name in this discussion is a red herring - he has nothing to do with the issue we're discussing.
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"Keep your religion out of my firehouse" and the "home or church" reference sounded a little stronger than "I just have an opinion."
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Charleston now owns the property, if my information is correct.
They plan to turn the site into a permenant memorial.
The crosses were still there (SSS site) as of my last trip there two weeks ago.
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Permalink Reply by WestPhilly on
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There you go again.
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