Posted on 10/26/2005 5:55:27 AM PDT by NYer
Proving it does not discriminate against the size of the municipality it will take to court, the American Civil Liberties Union is locked in a legal battle with a small New Mexico town over a tiny cross on its seal this after last year forcing the County of Los Angeles to remove a cross from its seal.
After being threatened with a lawsuit should it continue to use the seal, the city of Tijeras, N.M., with a population of less than 500 decided to place itself in a David and Goliath conflict with the ACLU to defend the presence of the cross.
In 1973, Tijeras adopted the seal, which was designed to symbolize the history of the town. It includes a conquistador's helmet and sword, a scroll, a desert plant, a fairly large religious symbol (the Native American zia) and a small Christian cross.
"Tiny cross inspectors are not permitted to fret about large non-Christian religious symbols, only undersized Christian ones," commented columnist John Leo about the case.
Since it is such a small town, Tijeras did not have the financial resources to battle the ACLU, so the Alliance Defense Fund, a pro-religious-liberty organization, has agreed to represent the municipality.
"The ACLU is once more specifically targeting a cross while it ignores Native American religious symbols," commented ADF senior counsel Gary McCaleb. "It reveals their desire to target all things Christian, regardless of the fact that the cross in the Tijeras seal is clearly an historic symbol and not an attempt to endorse any particular faith."
Wrote Silas Montgomery, tongue in cheek, in the Arizona Daily Wildcat, referencing the placement of the cross on the seal: "This heinous crime, committed more than 30 years ago, went unpunished until the righteous crusaders from the ACLU took note of it and decided that justice had to be served."
Old L.A. County seal |
As WorldNetDaily reported, last year the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, threatened to sue the county if the L.A. County Board of Supervisors did not redesign the seal, leading to a 3-2 vote to remove the small cross. The ACLU claimed it violated the First Amendment of the Constitution.
The Board subsequently voted to approve a new cross-less seal.
Related offer:
The ACLU's true agenda for America. Compelling new book removes veil on law group's communist roots.
Previous stories:
New effort to restore cross to seal
I'm wondering when the idjits at the ACLU are going to make the New Mexico town of Las Cruces change it's name.
So what would they do if the town just ignored the ruling?
Well, I guess we made the big time.... :(
..but thankfully, we now have the American Center for Law & Justice....and the Alliance Defense Fund, among others...fighting back.
What a sick organization, supporting pedophiles and other perverts, trying to destroy anything that promotes good character, resorting extortion.
Image of Jesus seen on city tree.
Posted on 10/26/2005 7:18:06 AM PDT by i cant stand it
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051026/NEWS01/510260329/1002/NEWS
The synchronicity was perfect. Right below this thread on the comment board was this one.
Next ACLU target - trees.
Some Clinton appointed federal judge would fine the city some big bucks, that the city/town can't afford to lose over this BS. And jail the local city gov't officials for contempt.
Ummm, that cross is on a Rosary if you look closely.
The ACLU is not a "libertarian" organization.
Ping
You know... that's pretty much the answer. The courts can rule anything they want. But it's the executive branch that enforces the laws. We've already got tons of laws that nobody enforces. I would guess a little bit of case law mixed in with those that we dont' enforce wouldn't hurt anything.
So the court rules... the city leaders write a note to the city manager... he writes a note to somebody else. Then they take bids from the contractors for removing the cross from the seal. And the bidding process is determined to take 9 months. And then there needs to be a study of the most efficient way to do it. And on and on... and 4 years from now nothing has been done. I'm not sure who the court then fines.
What about Los Angeles, whose real name is "Queen of the Angels?" San Francisco, Santa Barbara, etal.
Great minds think alike! See reply #20.
That must be Tijeras's 15 minutes of fame! Best wishes on the town's legal battle.
Exactly. Those place names do testify to the religious faith of the settlers, don't they.
And of cousre there is the Trinity River that I live next to.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.