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57 lines
3.4 KiB
Plaintext
From the Chicago Tribune, 1/13/94, Editorial:
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Too much ado about two crosses
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It must be exhausting to be a self-appointed guardian of church-state
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separation in this age. For Rob Sherman of Buffalo Grove, national
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spokesperson for American Atheists Inc., life seems to be a constant odyssey in
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search of insidious schemes to sneak in a little religion where it doesn't
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belong.
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He has taken on everything from religious symbols on municipal seals, to
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street signs pointing the way to churches, to Christmas decorations and
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menorahs on municipal property. Usually, one way or another, he has won, for
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if you give a fine reading to the Constitution--and force a court to render on
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it--it is clear that government and religion aren't to mix.
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It is, however, hard to believe that this is what the framers of the Bill
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of Rights had in mind when they crafted the 1st Amendment. Properly worried
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about the official imposition or intolerance of religion, they made certain
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that government could neither establish it nor prohibit its free exercise.
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Sherman is worried these days about two foot-high crosses atop a sign at
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Waukegan's 142-year-old, city-owned Oakwood Cemetary. Most people wouldn't
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think twice about seeing a cross at a cemetary, or be offended by it. But
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Sherman has been thinking about it a lot, and sees offense to the Constitution.
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He has taken his cause to the Waukegan City Council, asking that the
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crosses be removed forthwith--or he will, of course, sue. For legal standing,
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he is joined by an 18-year-old Waukegan resident, to whom the crosses are "a
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violation of personal freedom."
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Most people would rightly wonder exactly what freedom is at stake here,
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other than that of an atheist to be nettlesome about an insignificant matter.
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They might wonder if nothing is sacred to this guy, but that is exactly his
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point. More basically, they might wonder why this is worth bothering about.
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Waukegan Mayor Bill Durkin has the proper perspective. He will investigate
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the constitutionality of the issue, and he will not make the mistake of other
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communities in spending thousands of dollars and years of litigation fighting a
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Sherman crusade. But he will not roll over easily, or any time soon.
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Sherman probably is right, in a strictly legal sense. But obsessively
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pursuing matters so inconsequential and harmless only serves to trivialize a
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bedrock of American democracy. There truly are times to be vigilant, as the
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founders were, about the improper mingling of religion and state. This is not
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one of them.
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=============================================================================
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Letter to the Editor in response, 1/20/94:
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CHICAGO--What you call in your editorial "Too much ado about two crosses
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(Jan. 13)" obsessive pursuit of inconsequential matters, I call the pursuit of
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what really matters.
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Christians in this country often see such things as a cross over a public
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cemetary, a nativity scene or Christmas tree in public places as rather
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mundane, secular symbols of our society in America. For that minority,
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including myself, who is not Christian, such symbols are not inconsequential
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nor secular; rather they are painful reminders that no matter what the
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Constitution says, we do in fact live in a Christian nation.
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I applaud every effort of Rob Sherman's to separate church from state.
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Daniel Kelber
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