{"id":8412,"date":"2011-10-08T11:18:07","date_gmt":"2011-10-08T15:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/?p=8412"},"modified":"2011-10-08T11:31:41","modified_gmt":"2011-10-08T15:31:41","slug":"small-town-tennessee-mayor-seeks-legal-help-to-fight-atheist-terrorists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/10\/small-town-tennessee-mayor-seeks-legal-help-to-fight-atheist-terrorists","title":{"rendered":"Small-town Tennessee mayor seeks legal help to fight atheist “terrorists”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Calling aggressive out-of-state atheists “terrorists,” a small-town Tennessee mayor is asking for help defending a cross atop his town’s water tower.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The cross atop the water tower<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey are terrorists as far as I\u2019m concerned,\u201d said Whiteville, Tennessee, Mayor James Bellar about the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation. \u201cThey are alleging that some Whiteville resident feels very, very intimidated by this cross.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wisconsin group has sent him threatening letters saying they will take the small Tennessee community to court to force removal of the cross, reports WREG-TV<\/a>\u00a0Channel 3 News — which had reported the mayor’s decision to remove the cross. However, apparently the city council has put that on hold while consulting with a Christian law group, seeking help in defending the cross.<\/p>\n

“The mayor said his community is under attack,” reported Fox News Radio<\/a>. Bellar said\u00a0the cross was erected on the water tower about eight years ago by private citizens who collected donations to cover costs, Fox reported:<\/div>\n

It\u2019s just a cross on the water tower,\u201d Bellar said. \u201cAll we\u2019re doing is exercising our right to practice our beliefs down here but this organization is now going to stymie that. We\u2019re not out here knocking on doors trying to convert people.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But Freedom From Religion Foundation co-president Dan Barker told Fox the cross is a violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. They\u2019ve given the mayor until the end of October to remove the cross.\u00a0\u201cThe law is very clear on this,\u201d Barker told Fox:<\/p>\n

\u201cA secular city may not promote or hinder religion. We don\u2019t have a problem with believers putting up crosses wherever they want, but this is a cross put up by the city on the city water tower.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barker said they\u2019ve been sending letters to the city since last year demanding that the cross be taken down, acting on behalf of an unnamed resident who complained.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt offends many residents,\u201d Barker said of the cross. \u201cMany of them think the cross symbol is an offensive symbol \u2013 that it\u2019s an insult to humanity.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mayor Bellar said he doesn\u2019t believe that\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a matter of fact, I don\u2019t even think it\u2019s a Whiteville resident,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have people of that belief here and if we do they\u2019re not going to raise that kind of ruckus for the rest of the town.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The town council has voted to consult with the Alliance Defense Fund about their legal options,\u00a0\u201cThis is their cause in life \u2013 to ride up and down the highway and find small towns that maybe have a religious symbol somewhere on public property,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA terrorist is more than a guy that flies the planes into the building,\u201d the mayor told Fox. \u201cIt\u2019s anyone who can disrupt your way of living, destroy your lifestyle, cause you anxiety. It\u2019s more than killing people. If they can disrupt your routine in life, that\u2019s what they want to do. They are terrorists as far as I\u2019m concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barker said he found the comparison to be ironic.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the one breaking the law,\u201d Barker told Fox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Calling aggressive out-of-state atheists “terrorists,” a small-town Tennessee mayor is asking for help defending a cross atop his town’s water tower. \u201cThey are terrorists as far as I\u2019m concerned,\u201d said Whiteville, Tennessee, Mayor James Bellar about the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation. \u201cThey are alleging that some Whiteville resident feels very, very intimidated by this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[674],"tags":[449,1709,80,1708],"class_list":["post-8412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-atheist","tag-freedom-from-religion-foundation","tag-mayor-james-bellar","tag-tennessee","tag-whiteville"],"yoast_head":"\nSmall-town Tennessee mayor seeks legal help to fight atheist "terrorists"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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