WND Exclusive FAITH UNDER FIRE

Historic district fights to keep cross

'We need not purge references to religion to satisfy militant atheists'

Posted: June 05, 2008

11:15 pm Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily 

Officials in Frankenmuth, Mich., a city that was founded by Lutheran

missionaries and today is known as "Michigan's Little Bavaria" for its heritage

and beer festivals, have decided to fight to keep their city shield, which

includes a swath of grain to represent the missionaries' farming roots, and a

"Luther Rose" with a tiny cross in the center.

The emblem, and a related cross in the city park, have come under attack from

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, according to officials.

"The council's unanimous vote to retain the Thomas More Law Center in the face

of a previous attempt to remove the small cross from its city shield and now the

more recent focus on the cross in Cross Park … reflects a deep commitment on the

part of the council to defend these symbols of the city's unique history and

culture," said Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel for the law center.

The city founders traveled from Bavaria in 1845 to settle a unique German

community inside the United States. They are represented on the city shield by

the swath of grain and the rose with the cross. Other parts of the shield depict

the Bavarian region from which the missionaries came, officials said.

Today the city is a magnet for tourists and visitors who want to see the ethnic

heritage that has made the city famous.

The council voted at a recent meeting to retain the TMLC to defend the shield,

and its related cross in the city's Cross Park, from attack.

"These symbols serve to link and promote Frankenmuth's unique origins and

history - all secular purposes," said Thompson. "The sign at Cross Park

expresses gratitude from a people with a missionary history. We need not purge

all historical references to religion merely to satisfy militant atheists."

There has been a complaint about the shield, and the city also has been on the

receiving end of threats of legal action for the city park that was built in

1976. Cross Park was one of three projects the city created to celebrate the

bicentennial of the United States. There's a log cabin as well as a cross in the

park, "both representing the history of the founding of this 'grateful'

community," officials said.

The German word "Franken" refers to the province of Franconia in Bavaria, and

the word "muth" means courage, giving the city's name the meaning of "courage of

the Franconians."

Christian symbols, such as crosses, however, have come under attack in recent

days and years, including a plan to remove them from a chapel used by Christians

in Iraq.