The town of Wilmore, Kentucky, has a cross on its water tower. The cross is owned by the city, but the tower is on land owned by private, Christian Asbury University. In 1976, the town took over the water tower from the university. It was agreed that the cross would remain on the water tower, and the university would pay the electric bill for it.
This arrangement seemed satisfactory until Wilmore mayor Harold Rainwater received an email from the Freedom From Religion Foundation of Madison, Wisconsin, asking that the cross be removed. The email said the cross “unabashedly creates the perception of government endorsement of Christianity.” It stated the cross made non-Christians feel they were “not favored members of the political community.”
But Mayor Rainwater says he has no intention of taking the cross down, and that no one has complained about it in 40 years “except this group from Madison.” He also pointed out that all he’s received from the FFRF is an email. “To be honest with you, I look at an email as spam,” he said. “That is not the way you contact someone in a legal position. I’m not going to take a cross down because of an email.” He added, “There’s a groundswell of support to keep [the cross].” The Rev. Franklin Graham also got into the mix, saying that removing the cross was against the will of the people, and praising Wilmore residents for “standing their ground.”
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