Posted on 01/18/2005 1:20:37 PM PST by BenLurkin
HOLLYWOOD - Just as Martin Luther King Jr. strove for justice for African Americans, the people who want Los Angeles County to keep the cross on its seal say they are striving to keep intact the symbol of the Judeo-Christian values King promoted. At a rally Monday, the day set aside nationwide to celebrate King's legacy, speakers at the Hollywood Ramada Inn encouraged residents to finish collecting the 341,212 signatures needed by March 1 to retain the seal's cross.
"Where do we think Martin Luther King Jr.'s ideas of equality, humanity and love our neighbor came from? They came from our Bible, from Judeo-Christian principles," said entertainer Pat Boone via telephone to radio talk show host Dennis Prager, who broadcast his national show live Monday from the hotel.
Prager, a religious Jew and cultural conservative, agreed, and used King's status as a Christian minister to make a point.
"What's being done to Rev. Martin Luther King's message is what's being done to the county seal - the Christian part is being obliterated," Prager said.
The rally attracted more than 100 people, including county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich and Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who both addressed the crowd. Also in attendance were several dozen activists who took part in marches at four locations - San Gabriel, Santa Monica, South Los Angeles and San Fernando - to demonstrate their support for the cross.
The controversy regarding the county seal began last year when the Southern California branch of the American Civil Liberties Union demanded the county remove the tiny gold cross from its seal or face a lawsuit.
The board majority of supervisors Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, Gloria Molina and Zev Yaroslavsky agreed to replace the cross with a mission, representing the historical value of the Catholic missionaries who founded the county. The mission's rooftop cross is not depicted on the seal.
The largest image, that of the pagan goddess of agriculture, Pomona, was replaced by a Native American woman; and oil derricks were removed to make room for the mission. The county has begun the process of replacing the seals on thousands of county vehicles, Web sites, letterhead and more.
Supervisors Don Knabe and Antonovich, whose district includes the Antelope Valley, requested the county wait until the signature drive was complete before changing seals, but they were outvoted. If enough signatures from registered county voters are gathered, the county will have to revert to the old seal or hold a special election to decide the issue.
"It's a battle we have to win," Antonovich said Monday, calling his ACLU opponents "the storm troopers of the 21st century."
Prager and others called the fight for the seal just one prong in a larger "culture war" that pits the nation's Judeo-Christian heritage against secularist forces seeking to remove all traces of religious expression.
Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Daniel Lapin traveled to Los Angles from his Seattle home to encourage cross supporters in the fight, which he called "a national issue, not a local issue."
"Supervisor Antonovich is standing up for an entire value system," said Lapin, founder of Toward Tradition, a movement to retain Judeo-Christian values. "He's supporting one side in the cultural struggle which is (separating) these Americans - Jewish and Christian, black and white, rich and poor - who believe that the Judeo-Christian culture is vital for our nation's survival, from those who reject those values as obstructing progress."
Lapin believes America is in the midst of a third religious reawakening: the first, he said, led to the Revolution, the second to the abolition of slavery; and this reawakening will "defend the institution of marriage as well as the legitimacy of faith as the foundation of the country."
County residents who took part in the rally and marches agreed.
"This country was founded by religious people who separated church from government - we don't have a state church - but we have a country founded on religious beliefs," said Sandra Needs, who led the two-day, 17-mile march to Hollywood from the San Gabriel Mission.
David Hernandez, organizer of the petition drive and rally, thanked Prager listeners across the country who sent in small amounts of money that added up to $10,000. He asked for prayers, signatures and donations. More information and downloadable petitions are available at www.our-firstamendment.org.
"We're only at a 100,000-plus (signatures) out of 340,000 - I don't want to put a rosy picture on something that's not rosy," Prager said. "We Jews can't carry the ball the whole way if churches can't get people to sign the petition."
"If we Christians don't stand up against the onslaught, we'll get what we deserve," Boone added.
Hernandez said the enthusiastic turnout Monday surpassed his expectations, though the turnout for the marches was small.
"Don't be discouraged that there's only 30 people here," Hernandez said he told a group of marchers. "This is the spark that will ignite the fuse.
"Cesar Chavez or Martin Luther King Jr. didn't start marching with hundreds of thousands of people, they started with a few people with conviction and drive, and that spread."
Tim Meschler of Woodland Hills led a seven-member group walking from South L.A.'s Crenshaw Christian Center more than nine miles to the Hollywood Ramada Inn.
"It doesn't take more than a few faithful to take a stand," Meschler said. "We all recognize it's just the beginning, and with this turnout (at the rally) and the kind of people we have, we know we will prevail."
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