The Freedom From Religion Foundation is at it again, but its challenge in Clayton is more nit-picking than non-secular constitutional violation.
This time, it's fair to say, our friends at the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) have taken things a little too far.
The nation's self-appointed protectors of atheism first made news in our area in 2011, when the group protested a "Keep Christ in Christmas" banner that was stretched across Broadway, Pitman's main business street.
Now, the FFRF has set its sights on nearby Clayton. In fact, the FFRF's sights have incredible magnification power, since they can spot a tiny cross in a town seal a mile away.
Borough seal of Clayton, New Jersey Both the borough's seal and its motto contained within, "A good place to live and play, work and pray," are under the foundation's fire. Unconstitutional, they say.
In Pitman, the FFRF had a kernel of a real argument since it wasn't clear from the get-go that the "Christ" banner was never affixed to public property. There were also reports that the local fire company, which gets public funding, used its equipment to hang the banner. And, the phrase "Keep Christ in Christmas" arguably suggests an official preference for one religion, although the banner itself is sponsored by the local Knights of Columbus group.
However, it was amusing to see the FFRF fight the continued use of the Pitman banner with satirical humor, not a lawsuit. In 2013, the group rented outdoor signs proclaiming "Keep Saturn in Saturnalia," a reference to a non-religious winter solstice celebration. Touche!
The FFRF's Clayton gambit is more unsettling. Picking apart tiny elements of a town's historical seal smacks of a chilling attempt to scrub the public square of any mention of religion in the public square. The church building, with a cross within, is one of five stylized elements in the seal. Others include an industrial building and a person fishing from a boat.
To follow the foundation's logic about being "exclusionary," if the figure fishing is a man (it's hard to tell), Clayton therefore must be hostile to any woman who wants to fish.
The Wisconsin-based FFRF says that legal decisions in other states hold that religious symbols are barred from official seals, even in historical context. If there were a court fight in Clayton, FFRF might win, but at what cost? Groups such as these need to pick their battles, or they'll be held up to ridicule by the religious and the non-religious alike. Here's a much more worrisome issue for the foundation: a front-running presidential candidate who proclaims that, should he win, store clerks will be forced to say "Merry Christmas" in place of "Happy Holidays."
Clayton officials, upon receiving a standard FFRF challenge letter, voted on March 24 to make no alterations to the seal or slogan. That's fine for now. If the FFRF chooses to fight on with billboards rather than legal briefs, that would be OK, too.