The East Aurora Post Office in Aurora, Ill., has removed a cross from public property after the Freedom From Religion Foundation took action to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church.
A concerned community member informed FFRF, a national state/church watchdog, of the violation. The post office had displayed a Latin (Christian) cross in public view behind the customer counter. FFRF wrote to the U.S. Postal Service to remove the cross, which impermissibly showed governmental religious favoritism.
“Displaying religious iconography in a post office violates federal regulations and the federal Constitution,” FFRF Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Hirsh M. Joshi wrote to local Postmaster Todd W. Lenke.
FFRF pointed out that U.S. postal regulations prohibit religious materials, other than stamp art, on postal property. Additionally, the display violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. By allowing such an icon, the East Aurora Post Office was demonstrating a preference for religion over nonreligion — and for Christianity in particular.
FFRF’s letter was dispatched to a receptive ZIP code.
“The Postal Service appreciates your communication concerning a religious display in the East Aurora Post Office in Illinois. A Latin cross was spotted on the counter behind the retail clerk,” a postal employee from the legal department responded via email. “Once again, thank you for bringing the issue to light. The Postal Service does not wish to violate any constitutional principle.”
FFRF is pleased that the post office so cordially received the state-church watchdog’s secular missive.
“We go to the post office to get or send mail, not to be subjected to religious messaging,” FFRF Co-President Dan Barker says. “The Postal Service is a federal institution and must not be entangled with religion.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with 40,000 members and several chapters across the country, including more than 1,200 members and a chapter in Illinois. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
