Fox & Friends is squarely in the corner of any Christian who believes that their 1st Amendment freedom of religion is being violated. But, as reported on yesterday's Fox & Friends, when evil atheists use the same Amendment to protest the incursion of Christianity in (literally) the public square, it's a different story.
As the banner framed the anti-atheist propaganda message, "Dishonoring Bravery, Atheists Call for Removal of Vet Memorial," sweet lil Christian friend, Anna Kooiman, told us a sad story that is making the rounds of all the usual right wing blogs. And, of course, it's just another Todd Starnes outrage story. She reported that after a local Knoxville Iowa vet set up a memorial, complete with a Christian cross, to our "brave men and women," nasty atheists say it's a constitutional violation. She conveniently omitted the FACT that the handmade memorial was erected in a public park without the city's permission.
Demonstrating her ignorance of the situation, let alone its legality, Kooiman told the mayor of Knoxville, Iowa that the memorial "seemed pretty innocuous." She said that she didn't see "the real problem." She asked the mayor to describe the atheist complaint as the banner made sure that you knew that atheists are unpatriotic: "A Tribute to Troops, Memorial Features Soldier Kneeling at Cross."
Brian Hatch provided some background to the story as the banner advanced the Fox "controversy" which, of course, includes nasty atheists: "Cross Controversy, Atheists Claim Memorial Promotes Christianity." He noted that the City Council does not feel the display is a problem because it is merely a "veterans memorial meant to honor a fallen solider" who, in Fox world, are all Christians, amiright?
Kooiman made sure to include the perfunctory Fox whine about how just one Jesus hating individual spoils it for everybody when she mentioned that it was "just one person" who complained. The banner revved up the outrage: "Atheist Attack, Group Targets Veterans Memorial Over Cross." She added that this evil Jesus hater contacted the evil Jesus hating "atheist group," Americans United for Separation of Church and State" which Fox has targeted in the past.
To her whine, "do they have a leg to stand on," Hatch responded that he didn't know and that the city legal team is now reviewing the issue. Kooiman's grin stretched from ear to ear as she mentioned that there is a lot of public support for the memorial.
If wall of genius Kooiman bothered to read the actual statement, from Americans United for Separation of Church and State, she would have been able to see why there is a "real problem." As the organization notes, "the memorial displays a soldier kneeling before a Latin cross, a symbol used most frequently by mainstream Catholic and Protestant denominations. No other religious symbols are displayed on the memorial, so it isn’t inclusive and that means it likely violates the First Amendment."
But in Foxworld, inclusive is a dirty word. Wonder what Fox & Friends would think about a public memorial that had just a verse from the Koran and nothing from the Bible....?????