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         August 18, 2010        

Holy War in Marion, Illinois, over proposal
to put Ten Commandments in Town Square

During the past month, Marion resident Ken Kessler has spoken twice to the City Council to propose that a Ten Commandments monument be placed in Tower Square, the municipal town center.  Mayor Butler and the City Council said that they'd think it over.

Last Friday, while in the neighborhood to attend the first court hearing for Pentecostal preacher Reverend Bill Vandergraph on charges that he raped a four-year-old girl, I stopped by Marion City Hall and met with Mayor Butler to propose that I offer another perspective to the City Council on the merits of placing such a monument on government property.  Mayor Butler invited me to make the presentation at the upcoming City Council meeting on Monday, which I did.

City of Marion video of my presentation to City Council on August 16, 2010

The key point that I made to the City Council was that the reason citizens want to put the central symbols of their religion on prominent pieces of government property is that it implies government endorsement of their religious perspective, while at the same time implying government condemnation of opposite religious perspectives.  Similarly, the reason citizens like Mr. Kessler don't want to put their symbols on private property is exactly the same:  It does not imply government endorsement of their religious perspective, which is the whole point for erecting the monument to begin with.

I suggested two alternatives.

There are plenty of private sites, both nearby and throughout Marion, where Kessler could put his Ten Commandments monument.  Do that.  That's the preferred alternative.

The other alternative would be to allow any and every resident, who wants to do so, to erect their own displays about religion on Tower Square.  That's what Mayor Roger Claar did in Bolingbrook, Illinois, when I called into question that village erecting a nativity scene in front of Village Hall during the Winter Solstice period.  Roger responded by allowing anyone who wants to, the right to erect their own display in front of Village Hall during December.  That has now become a tradition in Bolingbrook.

Mayor Butler indicated, during the City Council meeting, that he would find a way to get the Ten Commandments monument erected in Tower Square.  However, when asked by me during the meeting if he would allow other viewpoints about religion to be represented, he said, "No."  He would only allow the viewpoint of the majority to be represented. 

Viewpoint discrimination by the government is blatantly unconstitutional.  I will be conducting a news conference at 3 p.m., today, at Tower Square in Marion, with one or more Marion residents (that means I've got one confirmed and I haven't had a chance to respond, yet, to other residents who have contacted me) to oppose Mayor Butler's proposal and suggest that Mayor Butler consider the prospect of a long, expensive and losing legal battle if he tries it.

News reports by other media outlets on this subject:

The Southern (The Southern Illinoisan, the area's leading newspaper):
July 31:  Religious monument right for Marion town square?
August 10:  Marion council unsure about Ten Commandments
August 14:  Atheist puts Marion on his agenda
August 17:  Marion faces off against atheist
August 18:  Wiccan to enter fray in Marion

WSIL-TV ABC Channel 3
Crowd Counters Atheist Challenge to the Ten Commandments Monument (link includes video)

KFVS-TV CBS Channel 12
Atheist under fire for challenging 10 Commandments monument

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