Can Boston Deny Flying a Christian Flag Over City Hall


I spent much of a previous decade trying to get a Ten Commandments stone removed from public property in Fargo, ND. I was President of Red River Freethinkers, the group taking the City of Fargo to court. We were unsuccessful at getting the monument removed. However, any court case lays the groundwork for others and ours goes into the permanent records as opposition to government endorsement of one particular religion.

There seem to be many of these government and religion controversies at any moment in time. Our atheist group where I now live places atheist displays in the state's Capitol at Christmastime in response to the Christian manger scene. In Boston, the city's refusal to allow a Christian flag made it all the way to the Supreme Court. If the court rules Boston cannot discriminate and must allow religious flags if it allows other flags like the rainbow, Satanists will fly their flag. Satanists have already put up a permanent monument next to the Ten Commandments in one city.

From day one in our attempt to remove the Ten Commandments from city property in Fargo our point was simple: If you allow this religious advocacy, others disserve the same privilege. The only solution is to remove all religious and political advocacy. 

While our message fell on deaf ears, other events are making our case for us. It is flags, especially the rainbow flag. As everyone knows, this flag appears on public property all over the country. Conservative Christians see it as a religious and political statement. They either want it down or they want to put up a flag with the cross on it. It's ironic the conservative Christian end game is the same as that of we atheists, allow all the flags or allow none. None is the only solution.  The atheist solution has become the Christian solution.

The remaining question is why was this not the solution before these political and religious expressions were displayed on public property? The old answer is, "Seemed like a good idea at the time." 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make som
Read more

The Religious Capitol Invaders May Yet Win

Image
So much about U.S. society and religion can be learned from the Civil War and what happened afterwards. After its defeat, the South started a myth about the unethical soldiers from the North. The South fought for principles of God and states rights. The North did not. It was the South, this propaganda told the country, that had the high moral ground.  The Capitol invaders, encouraged by Trump, swallowed the myth that Biden's election was stolen. Thus, they think they held and still hold the high moral ground. This was reinforced by the cross and prayers during the invasion. Even with Trump is gone, we will see political opportunists like Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley stroking crowds and feeding the same lies as Trump. Like "the South will rise again" these gullible followers will talk of victory over the unclean. After the Civil War the South rallied around the phrase, Lost Cause. For decades, and maybe to this day, there are ceremonies remembering fallen martyrs, Re
Read more

Father Frank Pavone, the Ultimate Crook

Image
Recently, the Vatican defrocked Frank Pavone. His diehard fans are outraged. This is because he cleverly manipulated his fans and the press all the while living well from donations and, apparently, abusing some women. By making abortion the "sin" of the century, and himself the main opposition to this one sin, he himself could get away with any sin he pleased.  As the link points out, Pavone was the perfect priest for the Trump era. Trump is so self-important laws have no role in his life. He felt accountable to no one. Women were there to be had. Pavone and Trump are interchangeable.  Pavone was very successful raising money. In his mind, abortion was so important in Catholic beliefs and he was so important in anti-abortion the money he raised opposing it was his to do with what he liked. The Catholic Church, the brand name he used to raise this money, thought the money belonged to it. When he gave the Vatican the bird, it gave him walking papers. With polls showing the majo
Read more