John Whitehead's Commentary
Censoring Teddy Roosevelt
There seems to be a new code of conduct in American society in which the golden rule is "offend no one." At least that appears to be the case in Riverside, Calif., after city officials gave in to a threat of a lawsuit by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and agreed to cover up a Theodore Roosevelt quote in the Riverside County Historic Courthouse.
The quote in question, by a historic American who was the 26th president of our nation, states that "The true Christian is the true citizen." It is engraved in gold on a mahogany wall in a courtroom of the County Superior Court, one of many quotes engraved on the court's walls, some secular in nature, that reflect the personal and diverse philosophies of the nation's past leaders, including Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.
Although these quotes have been displayed on the court's walls for over 70 years without any formal complaint, the ADL claims that the Roosevelt quote "marginalizes" non-Christians who come into contact with the courthouse and, thus, needs to be removed. The Riverside Courthouse and the ADL have now been sued by a local citizen who claims that California preservation laws make it a crime to alter a historical site in any way. The Riverside Courthouse was designated a "cultural resource" and a "designated historical site" many years ago. The suit also charges the ADL with engaging in censorship.
Yet this incident is about more than just censoring Teddy Roosevelt--it's about censoring anyone and anything that challenges an individual's or group's notions of what is appropriate or politically correct, especially when religious expression is involved.
Religious symbols have been among the forms of expression most targeted for attack--from the tiny cross on Los Angeles County's seal (which was removed after the ACLU threatened a lawsuit) to small religious images, including a student-drawn angel, on some commemorative tiles in the hallways of Columbine High School in remembrance of the students killed during the tragic shootings that took place there. The tiles were chiseled out by school officials who feared that the religious imagery might violate the so-called "separation of church and state."
Even walkway bricks have become objects of outrage to the "offend no one" crowd. For example, after the parents of one student complained, Potomac Falls, Va., school officials removed a handful of bricks that bore a small cross symbol from a school walkway and replaced them with black placeholders. The engraved bricks had been part of a fundraising campaign to help student clubs and organizations raise funds for school field trips. The campaign involved the sale of engraved bricks, which were personalized with a limited amount of text and a small symbol selected from a list of icons provided by the school, including the image of a cross. The bricks were then placed in the "Walkway of Fame" around the school's flagpole. The Rutherford Institute filed a lawsuit against the school for removing the "offensive" bricks, and a federal court recently ruled that the school had engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.
Other absurd examples abound. For example, while Maryland public school students are free to thank anyone they want while learning about the 17th century celebration of Thanksgiving, they may not thank God. Capital News Service reporter Laurel Lundstrom pointed out that while Maryland students read stories about the Pilgrims and Native Americans, simulate Mayflower voyages, hold mock feasts and learn about the famous meal that temporarily allied two very different groups, teachers don't mention that the Pilgrims not only thanked the Native Americans for their peaceful three-day indulgence but repeatedly thanked God. Incredibly enough, we're taking our rich, diverse cultural heritage--some of it dating back 300 years--and throwing it in the trash, all for the sake of not offending some individual or special-interest group that might find it offensive.
And in the first of what promises to be a holiday season full of these kinds of complaints, The Rutherford Institute was recently contacted by the parents of a Florida elementary school student after they learned that although songs celebrating Hanukah, Kwanzaa and the winter season were going to be included in the school's winter concert, Christian Christmas songs had been excluded from the program. Thankfully, after Rutherford Institute attorneys intervened, school officials quickly changed their tune and included Christmas in the concert lineup.
Yet another testament to the "don't offend anyone" principle involves the recent hullabaloo over the ACLU's insistence that the military needs to stop sponsoring the Boy Scouts. Why? It seems that the Scouts' insistence that their members believe in God and oppose homosexuality on moral grounds makes them unfit for government support. Now the Department of Defense has been asked to reconsider its ban on direct Boy Scout sponsorship.
Censorship and overreaction by public officials are the main issues in most of these cases. It certainly has nothing to do with the usual complaint of the so-called separation of church phrase. Too often, the wall of separation phrase is used by separatist organizations to bludgeon away any religious reference in public places. However, the phrase is nowhere in the U.S. Constitution. And when Thomas Jefferson coined the phrase, his intent was to protect religious expression, not censor it.
Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear two cases, both of which deal with the display of the Ten Commandments on public property. Hopefully in these cases, the Court will clear up the confusion over what can or cannot be placed on the walls of public institutions.
In this age of no offense, Americans do have a choice. We can erase our traditions (some that are centuries old) and censor anything (mostly religious references) that may offend someone. Or we can recover our common sense and maintain some semblance of the institutions and heritage that have helped foster the freedoms we so dearly cherish.
The quote in question, by a historic American who was the 26th president of our nation, states that "The true Christian is the true citizen." It is engraved in gold on a mahogany wall in a courtroom of the County Superior Court, one of many quotes engraved on the court's walls, some secular in nature, that reflect the personal and diverse philosophies of the nation's past leaders, including Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.
Although these quotes have been displayed on the court's walls for over 70 years without any formal complaint, the ADL claims that the Roosevelt quote "marginalizes" non-Christians who come into contact with the courthouse and, thus, needs to be removed. The Riverside Courthouse and the ADL have now been sued by a local citizen who claims that California preservation laws make it a crime to alter a historical site in any way. The Riverside Courthouse was designated a "cultural resource" and a "designated historical site" many years ago. The suit also charges the ADL with engaging in censorship.
Yet this incident is about more than just censoring Teddy Roosevelt--it's about censoring anyone and anything that challenges an individual's or group's notions of what is appropriate or politically correct, especially when religious expression is involved.
Religious symbols have been among the forms of expression most targeted for attack--from the tiny cross on Los Angeles County's seal (which was removed after the ACLU threatened a lawsuit) to small religious images, including a student-drawn angel, on some commemorative tiles in the hallways of Columbine High School in remembrance of the students killed during the tragic shootings that took place there. The tiles were chiseled out by school officials who feared that the religious imagery might violate the so-called "separation of church and state."
Even walkway bricks have become objects of outrage to the "offend no one" crowd. For example, after the parents of one student complained, Potomac Falls, Va., school officials removed a handful of bricks that bore a small cross symbol from a school walkway and replaced them with black placeholders. The engraved bricks had been part of a fundraising campaign to help student clubs and organizations raise funds for school field trips. The campaign involved the sale of engraved bricks, which were personalized with a limited amount of text and a small symbol selected from a list of icons provided by the school, including the image of a cross. The bricks were then placed in the "Walkway of Fame" around the school's flagpole. The Rutherford Institute filed a lawsuit against the school for removing the "offensive" bricks, and a federal court recently ruled that the school had engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.
Other absurd examples abound. For example, while Maryland public school students are free to thank anyone they want while learning about the 17th century celebration of Thanksgiving, they may not thank God. Capital News Service reporter Laurel Lundstrom pointed out that while Maryland students read stories about the Pilgrims and Native Americans, simulate Mayflower voyages, hold mock feasts and learn about the famous meal that temporarily allied two very different groups, teachers don't mention that the Pilgrims not only thanked the Native Americans for their peaceful three-day indulgence but repeatedly thanked God. Incredibly enough, we're taking our rich, diverse cultural heritage--some of it dating back 300 years--and throwing it in the trash, all for the sake of not offending some individual or special-interest group that might find it offensive.
And in the first of what promises to be a holiday season full of these kinds of complaints, The Rutherford Institute was recently contacted by the parents of a Florida elementary school student after they learned that although songs celebrating Hanukah, Kwanzaa and the winter season were going to be included in the school's winter concert, Christian Christmas songs had been excluded from the program. Thankfully, after Rutherford Institute attorneys intervened, school officials quickly changed their tune and included Christmas in the concert lineup.
Yet another testament to the "don't offend anyone" principle involves the recent hullabaloo over the ACLU's insistence that the military needs to stop sponsoring the Boy Scouts. Why? It seems that the Scouts' insistence that their members believe in God and oppose homosexuality on moral grounds makes them unfit for government support. Now the Department of Defense has been asked to reconsider its ban on direct Boy Scout sponsorship.
Censorship and overreaction by public officials are the main issues in most of these cases. It certainly has nothing to do with the usual complaint of the so-called separation of church phrase. Too often, the wall of separation phrase is used by separatist organizations to bludgeon away any religious reference in public places. However, the phrase is nowhere in the U.S. Constitution. And when Thomas Jefferson coined the phrase, his intent was to protect religious expression, not censor it.
Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear two cases, both of which deal with the display of the Ten Commandments on public property. Hopefully in these cases, the Court will clear up the confusion over what can or cannot be placed on the walls of public institutions.
In this age of no offense, Americans do have a choice. We can erase our traditions (some that are centuries old) and censor anything (mostly religious references) that may offend someone. Or we can recover our common sense and maintain some semblance of the institutions and heritage that have helped foster the freedoms we so dearly cherish.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
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