Here in northeastern Tennessee, it's not unusual to see caravans of vehicles flying Confederate flags, the occasional sheriff's department sending their robes out to be dry cleaned, and a street or two named after Grand Dragons. This is one of those stories.
Elizabethton's Crosses
Elizabethton, a city of 14,000, is about 10 miles from my home. As reported April 16 by The Johnson City Press, Elizabethton's city attorney, Roger Day, had issued a formal statement on the 14th. He said that the three crosses on city-owned property on Lynn Mountain did not violate the First Amendment. The three crosses have a mountainside view above downtown Elizabethton.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation had written to Elizabethton twice, arguing that the crosses on city land were a violation of the Constitution. City Attorney Day said in his statement that the Supreme Court's 2019 decision to allow a 40-foot cross at a veterans' memorial in Maryland was applicable to Elizabethton's situation. The Supreme Court had decided that the 40-foot cross had accepted secular meaning vis-a-vis wartime sacrifice. The giant cross could therefore stay.
Day Dreaming
Here's what I think about local GOP operatives. They gussy themselves up in the prettiest culture war garb while absolutely knowing that what they're spouting is nonsense. Day cannot be as dumb as he sounds, but he's going to try to pull this off under the auspices of both naivete and innumeracy. His legal analogy is self-serving garbage, and here's why.
The three crosses in Elizabethton are plural. Yeah, what insight, mathematical sophistication, and observational expertise I bring to the table. My point is that three crosses are undeniably NOT a secular symbol. The New Testament features three crosses on Calvary, the hill on which Jesus of Nazareth was ostensibly crucified. On the Nazarene's right was a criminal who repented and went to heaven. On the left was a criminal who did not go to heaven. The Nazarene was in the middle.
The three crosses are classic Christian religious iconography. Their presence on the Elizabethton hill speaks to the detailed storylines of the famous crucifixion. Three crosses is not by any Reed Richards stretch a secular symbol. To argue such a thing is obvious nonsense.
The Christian Way
Personally, I don't care if there are crosses, windmills, or giant blow-up dolls overlooking downtown Elizabethton. I'm just annoyed by a city attorney making a disingenuous argument so as to drape himself in a culture war flag. These cloistered GOP small towns scream for the Constitution until they run afoul of the Constitution. Then they bullshit.
I have problems with the incessant, insulting bullshitting. Just Christian up, flex your anti-Constitutional muscles, and proclaim Elizabethton a sanctuary city for hard-core cross worshippers. If it costs you federal money, it costs you federal money. If God's on your side, after all, there's really no pressing need for federal funding. Have more faith in your finances.
Bob Dietz
April 25, 2022
