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Contributors
Chuck DeVore- Contributor
Assemblyman Chuck
DeVore represents 450,000 residents of Orange County
California’s
70th Assembly District.. He served as a Reagan White House
appointee in the Pentagon from 1986 to 1988 and was Senior
Assistant to Cong. Chris Cox. He is a lieutenant colonel in the Army
National Guard. Chuck’s novel, CHINA
ATTACKS, sells internationally and has been translated
into Chinese for sales in Taiwan. [go to DeVore index]
 ACLU
Anti-Cross Crusade: What next?
With L.A. County seal fixed, the zealots still have lots of cleaning up to do
[Chuck DeVore & Todd Spitzer] 6/15/04
Claiming
government endorsement of religion, the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) recently sued Los Angeles County to
force it to remove a small gold cross from the county seal.
Rather than fight the ACLU's radical lawsuit, the Los Angeles
County Board of Supervisors capitulated, ostensibly fearing costly
legal action - although the vote to cave in appeared to have
more of a partisan tone as Republican board members Knabe and
Antonovich voted to resist the ACLU.
At last reading, the modified Los Angeles County seal includes
a cow, a tuna fish, a Spanish galleon, the Hollywood Bowl and
the Goddess Pomona cradling an armful of fruit.
If the ACLU applies a consistent standard, the surviving symbols
on the county seal still present a problem for their endorsement
of religion or their ability to offend certain segments of the
population. To wit: Many religions worship cows, so, the cow's
got to go! The fish is a widely used religious symbol - just
say no to the fish! The Goddess Pomona is, well, a Pagan goddess,
so she's definitely gone! Spanish galleons are a symbol of European
oppression: too offensive for too many, no galleons! Hollywood
is a symbol of American cultural imperialism: bye-bye!
Now, what do we have left? The armful of fruit! It can stay
as an appropriate symbol for the new, sensitive Los Angeles County
(thankfully, it wasn't an armful of meat).
Wait, doesn't
Los Angeles mean "the Angels"? Egad!
We have a problem here. Scanning the list of nearby counties,
we see San Bernardino, San Diego and Santa Barbara - three saints
of the One True Church? Say it ain't so!
Perhaps we
can rename Los Angeles County "Fruit County," San
Bernardino County could be named "Nut County," San
Diego County "Sandy Ego County," and Santa Barbara
might be named "Santa Claus County" since Santa is
make-believe and totally secularized these days anyway.
With the Los Angeles County seal now fixed, the ACLU still has
a lot of work to do. At least 13 of California's 58 counties
have overtly Christian names that must be removed if the ACLU
is to be satisfied.
Of course,
after we rename Sacramento (Sacraments) County "County
Number 5," we can redesign most of the sheriff's badges
in America, with their six-pointed stars signifying authority
in the law as descended from the Law of Moses.
And then there's the currency and the Pledge of Allegiance.
It seems the ACLU has many more late nights and lawsuits before
America is completely safe for atheists, curmudgeons and humorless
busybodies of all persuasions.CRO
This piece first appeared in the Orange County Register
Chuck DeVore is the Republican nominee in the 70th State Assembly
District. www.ChuckDeVore.com
Spitzer
is a Republican Assemblyman from Irvine.
copyright 2004 Chuck DeVore
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