In light of the most recent SCOTUS ruling regarding the posting of the 10 Commandments at courthouses, the West Virginia chapter of the ACLU inquired as to the intentions of the Clay County (population approx. 10,000) Commission's intentions as to the 10 Commandments display at the Clay County Courthouse. In response, the Clay County Commission called for a special meeting at the local high school in order to guage public opinion on the matter. Needless to say, the public wanted to keep the Commandments, and the Commission voted unanimously to keep them. The most interesting part of this story is not the end result, but is the tone of the meeting which was quite scary.
The AP has a story on this, but in my mind, the Hur Herald has the best coverage.
Here are some good quotes:
Clay County Sheriff: "I don't have to go by man-made law."
Member of Clay Library Board: "The reason we don't want other religions is because they are false."
Several Speakers: The ACLU is an "arm of Satan."
There's more...
A local news publication
Clayberry has posted some pictures from the meeting and provides some good
commentary
Here is a sampling from Clayberry:
"Without a doubt, the most troubling part of the meeting came from an appointed leader in the community, Jacob Nichols. During the TV coverage (5:30, 6:pm and 11pm ), Mr Nichols said all religions but his own, are inferior and should not be permitted in this nation of many."
"Other Nichols' comments included: Jews, Buddhists and ALL other faiths should NOT have full protection under the Constitution. During those comments, the crowd of right wingers gave thunderous applause and ovations of approval. Up front the smug smiles came. Commissioner Sams provided Nichols with a warm approving hand shake."
"The masses spoke up on wanting the school system to provide proper religious training for students. The rounds of Amen came again and again. Since we've had school service personnel and teachers alike removed from their job for inappropriate sexual advances and worse, guess that's what the Christian Taliban wants for the county."
"If there was ever a guy with gonads of stone, it was John Brown. After being shouted down during his 3 minute presentation to the CCC, Brown came back with: As a non Christian, the Ten Commandments offend me. Oh Man!!! The crowd went wild. In other parts of the world where rocks are plentiful, Brown would have been stoned to death on the spot. The thin, bespeckled, 30 something Brown stood his ground. He said that he didn't want to be preached to each time he goes to the Courthouse to do business."