March 31, 2010
Had this story taken place in Berkley, California, I doubt that anyone would have batted an eyebrow. But this is the little city of Davenport, Iowa, the heartland of America.
City Administrator, Craig Malin surprised not only the citizens of Davenport, but the town council itself, by sending out a pleasant little memo cheerfully announcing that Good Friday was going through a name change. The crisp, brand spanking, new title? “Spring Holiday.” I guess that was as generic as the guy could possibly be. After all, nobody is going to be offended by the celebration of springtime. (Although, these days, I wouldn’t put it past some winter lover to file a law suit.)
Believe it or not (and lately, I’m ready to believe anything when a politician is involved) Malin acted on the recommendation of the Davenport City Rights Commission, who informed him that the title “Good Friday” violated the constitutional command of “separation between church and state.”
Well, since we are approaching Good Friday, how about a little good news: The city of Davenport responded with such a volcanic reaction that the title was immediately switched back.
City Councilman, Bill Edmond (caught off guard as anyone else at this strange twist of secular reinterpretation) told ABC News that his phone has been ringing off the hook. Says, Edmond, “People are genuinely upset because this is nothing but Political Correctness run amok.”
As if misquoting the constitution wasn’t enough, the City Rights Commission also defended its action in the name of “diversity.”
I have a couple of questions for the City Rights Commission. I’ll make them as simple as I can:
Are you aware that the phrase “separation between church and state” is not even found in our constitution? It comes from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson promising the Danbury Baptists that the government will never interfere with their free practice of religion. And did you know that Jefferson, (not a Christian himself) nevertheless wanted a picture of Moses for the official American seal? Does this not clarify Jefferson’s opinion as one who would not have been freaked out over a biblically based holiday? Is he not in a fair position to understand the intent of our constitution inasmuch as he is one of the authors of the cotton picking thing?
Here’s another question: How exactly does it challenge diversity to allow a holiday that some will celebrate and others will ignore with the casualness of a yawn? Does not the option to believe or disbelieve speak to the heart and soul of true diversity? Would these same commissioners speak against Earth Day so as not to offend those of us who haven’t embraced the Global Warming scare? I’ll go out on a limb and guess no.
One more question: Are you aware that when you call any day a “holiday”, you are using a word that means “Holy Day?” Shh. Keep it under your hat. Don’t tell the ACLU. They haven’t caught on yet. But we still beg the question: If this is a holy day, which act of holiness is being commemorated?
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