The religious motto that two Clark County councilors are forcing upon all of us, no matter what our beliefs, is divisive and creates an idea of unconstitutionality for those who must do their public business in that public place. In a public building, of all places, is where the Constitution ought to be embraced wholeheartedly, in the spirit, if not in the letter, of the law.
The motto reminds us who know our history of those oppressive times during the Sen. Joe McCarthy era when blacklists were compiled, loyalty oaths required and free speech threatened. During that time, those most intolerant of free speech among us forced their gods upon the rest of us in that motto. It’s a reminder of political intolerance.
If the hyper-religious citizens among us force their motto onto a site where the public must do its business, then all we freedom loving citizens can do is, like Ronald Reagan, cry out, “Misters and Miss Council Members, we say to you, tear down that wall sign!” Of course, we who know history know that the liberty of conscience from the force of a religious-governing class died long ago, during the McCarthy era.
George Thomas
Vancouver
