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Frankenmuth says no to removing cross By Dave Kinchen Posted: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 at 9:29 a.m. FRANKENMUTH -- The hot political issue in Mid-Michigan is all about religion. A group asked the Frankenmuth City Coucil to remove the cross from it's shield, a request that the council members denied. In a packed council meeting, residents and non-residents lined up to either attack or defend the Lutheran cross displayed on the city's shield. Lloyd Clark, a Frankenmuth resident, led the fight against the shield "It is a fact that in Frankenmuth, well meaning people placed a symbol on the city seal which reflects a statement of Christianity, more specifically Lutheranism. Therefore, I request that the Lutheran Cross be deleted from the city shield as soon as possible." He was joined by Arlene Marie, head of Michigan Atheists and leaders from American's United for Separation of Church and State Michigan. Marie said "The City shield with it's Lutheran rose (does not) reflect religious diversity." But, one by one, residents came to the shields defense. Wally Bronner's son Wayne spoke of the day he learned of Mr. Clark's issue with the cross, it was a day after burying his father. "Opened up the Saginaw News and I read that Mr. Clark had some kind of issue with the City shield. Said he wanted it removed. I was feeling down, but I must admit it felt like someone punched me in the gut while I was down." Opponents of the shield cited examples of lawsuits including that of Zion, Illinois, where courts ordered that city to remove a religious symbol from its shield. Still, the city of Frankenmuth was not swayed, nor were the vast majority of residents in the meeting, and this won't be over anytime soon. NBC25 obtained a statement released from the Frankenmuth City Council at Tuesday night's meeting, It says: "This city government is firmly committed to protect our Frankenmuth shield in its entirety." It goes on to say "Should we be formally challenged, we will vigorously respond and not waiver in it's defense." NBC25 showed the statement to Lloyd Clark and he says he's now considering legal action. We did some digging into other religious controversies in Mid-Michigan to see if there have been any precedents set. But, most local cases concerned adding a symbol, not removing one. In 2007 Saginaw County Commissioner, Patrick Wurtzel, wanted to put the 10 commandments into the Saginaw County Courthouse, but fellow commissioners ruled it unconstitutional. In January 2005, Frankenmuth schools superintendent decided not to allow a class entitles "The bible in history and literature", he said he feared litigation. http://www.weyi.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=131113 |