Right-wing radio talk show hosts can rejoice. Here is their straw man of the week. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-supes9jun09,1,6377697.story?coll=la-home-local "More than 700 people packed the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday to chastise lawmakers for voting to erase a small cross from the county's official seal. The board's decision, made last week after the American Civil Liberties Union threatened to sue on the grounds that the seal represents an unconstitutional endorsement of Christianity, unleashed a loud backlash as thousands of people called the supervisors or fired off e-mail messages objecting to the cross' removal."
I swear, "straw man" must be this forum's version of "ironic." So many people use the term on a regular basis, but at least half of them don't seem to have a clue what it means. As to the cross thing, I file it right up there with "In God We Trust" on the money. Is it unconstitutional? Yup. Is it really a big deal? Hell no. There are more important things to worry about.
"I think a person's faith helps keep perspective in the midst of noise, pressure, sound--all the stuff that goes on in Washington. A person's faith helps you keep vision. As a matter of fact, helps clear your vision--is a vision. It is one of the prayers I ask is that God's light shines through me as best as possible, no matter how opaque the window. I'm in a world of, sometimes a world of fakery, and obfuscation, political back shots, and so I'm very mindful about the proper use of faith in this process. And you can't fake your faith, nor can you use your faith as a shallow attempt to garner votes, otherwise you will receive the ultimate condemnation. And therefore, the best way for faith to operate in somebody is, as I said, to let the light shine as opposed to trying to defend or alter or get my job mixed up with a preacher's job. And the only way you can do that is just be yourself, without crossing any lines of politics and religion. Separation of church and state important in America. And by that I mean the people of faith should participate in the state, and there's a difference." --George W. Bush in Christianity Today, May 28, 2004 http://www.presidentialprayerteam.org/