A Texas mayor last week defended a city sign that reads “JESUS WELCOMES YOU TO HAWKINS,” saying there wasn’t anything wrong with it because “you can’t pin one religion on Jesus,” television station KETK reported.
Mayor Will Rogers led a city council meeting on Monday to hear opinions on the presence of the 18-foot-sign after the Freedom From Religion Foundation requested the sign be moved off city property, television station KLTV reported.
In a June 1 letter, the Wisconsin-based FFRF, which works to maintain the separation between church and state, reportedly said the sign violates the First Amendment.
Rogers said he didn’t believe the sign violated the Constitution because Jesus was a public figure, KLTV reported.
“What violation is it for someone to welcome you into a town,” Rogers told the station. “If you don’t believe that Jesus existed, then he would be fiction. If he’s fiction, and you want to remove his name from everything then you need to remove every fiction name that there is across the country.”
“That means we couldn’t say Superman welcomes you to town,” Rogers continued.
Rogers said the sign isn’t officially on the city council’s agenda, so no action can be taken despite the public meeting, KLTV reported. According to the station, before anything is decided, a survey will be conducted to determine whether the sign is actually on city property.
The FFRF was alerted to the presence of the sign by a “concerned local citizen,” KLTV reported.
h/t Raw Story
