The little city of Glencoe has been flying the Christian flag over their police department since the 1990?s. The city flies the Christian, American, and the Alabama state flag on city grounds.
There are only 5000 people living in Glencoe, and one of them did not like having the Christian flag flown. This individual reported them to the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF).
Then the FFRF litigators filed a formal complaint, and the Christian flag came down, WBRC reports.
Glencoe City Council got together to discuss the flags, and Mayor Charles Gilchrist told its members that the city cannot afford a legal battle. He warned them?that another city lost a similar suit costing it $550,000
But that didn’t mean Gilchrist liked the idea,
?That’s what they do, they pick on these smaller towns that can’t defend ourselves.?
In a?February letter?to Glencoe, the FFRF litigators pointed out flying the Christian flag was in ?blatant violation? of the Constitution’s Establishment Clause.
The FFRF wrote:
?The cross on the flag pole of Glencoe’s City Hall building unabashedly creates the perception of government endorsement of Christianity.
“The cross has an exclusionary effect making non-Christians and non-believing residents of Glencoe political outsiders.??
This wasn’t the first time Glencoe had been dinged by the FFRF. The little city received a FFRF letter complaining about municipal Nativity displays.
The FFRF is on a roll. Just two weeks ago it sent a complaint letter to Bradley County, Arkansas, for flying a religious flag. FFRF co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor released this statement Monday:
?Reason will prevail. In this case, it was so patently obvious why a civil, secular government can’t endorse Christianity in this particular way.?
Attorney for FFRL Andrew Seidel wrote,
“The display of this patently religious symbol on City property confers government endorsement of Christianity,
“A majority of federal courts have held displays of Latin crosses on public property to be an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.”
Onward Christian soldiers!
