A Georgia courthouse has taken down a Christian flag due to the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
An overtly Christian flag on a flagpole boasting an additional cross had been prominently on display next to the judge's bench in a Bryan County courtroom. The flag is a traditional evangelical Christian design, reportedly conceptualized by Protestants in the early 20th century. The white in the flag is said to represent the biblical notions of purity, the blue is supposed to stand for baptism in water and the red is meant to symbolize the sacrifice that Jesus made for humankind.
The religious significance of the cross and the flag display is indisputable, and FFRF had urged its immediate removal.
"An overwhelming majority of federal courts agree that the Latin cross universally represents the Christian religion, and only the Christian religion," FFRF Staff Attorney Elizabeth Cavell wrote to Rebecca Crowe, Bryan County clerk of courts. "And a majority of federal courts have held displays of Latin crosses on public property to be an unconstitutional endorsement of religion."
After agreeing to remove the display, Bryan County officials dilly-dallied for a while, shirking responsibility for actually getting rid of it. Earlier this week, however, they finally complied with the U.S. Constitution.
"We appreciate that they finally decided to stop playing the role of constitutional outlaws" says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "Bryan County is not a Christian county, Georgia is not a Christian state and the United States is a secular—not a Christian—nation. Reason and the Constitution have prevailed."
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a nationwide nonprofit organization dedicated to the separation of state and church, with almost 24,000 nonreligious members across the country, including more than 400 in Georgia and an Atlanta-area chapter.