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People in McAlester are upset they can’t put crosses on city street signs

10:23 AM EST on November 14, 2012

See those two cowboys shaking hands in front of a cross? That's part of a collection of tacky silhouette street signs that were donated to the City of McAlester. This sign, and a few other religious themed items, were recently removed by the city after a citizen complained they violated the separation between church and state.

Cue the angry Christians:

The McAlester City Council met Tuesday night to discuss whether to reinstall nine silhouette street signs removed by the city.

The removed signs depicted crosses or crucifixes and the citizen complaint stated it violated the separation of church and state. Residents and church groups have opposed the city's decision.

The nine signs are part of 125 black metal signs a resident donated to the city to represent McAlester's culture.

Residents packed the city council meeting Tuesday evening, saying the city violated their freedom of speech by taking down religious-themed signs.

The city says the signs violate separation of church and state.

The city removed the signs, because of the cross in the middle. The signs have now been moved to church property, but many residents want it back on city property.

The city council says a lawsuit could cost the city $400,000 if it reinstalled the signs and lost a legal challenge.

Two national law organizations told the council the city would have had a good case to keep the signs up, had it not removed them in the first place.

Uhm, from which two national law organizations did the city council get their information? My guess is The National Association of Baptist Lawyers (NABL) and/or The United Federation for Forcing Religion Down Our Throats (UFFFRDOT). Maybe I'm a bit too logical and rational, but when a city decorates street signs with cowboys praying at crosses, the signs not only violate the separation of church and state, but also the spirit of good taste. Those things were so tacky Hobby Lobby probably wouldn't stock them.

Also, what if the signs didn't have crosses, but instead displayed the Star of David or Star and Crescent? Think there would have been such an uproar if the city removed them? The answer is "Of course not."

Things get even better though. And by better, I really mean more sad and irritating. Check out this statement by made by one angry church lady at the city council meeting:

Hahaha! Yeah, little out-of-touch church lady from McAlester who really likes jewelry made of blue marbles, what your city council did yesterday actually took a lot of guts. They protected the freedoms of a few to the dismay of many. They didn't go the easy route and give in to the demands of an angry Christian mob. They didn't do the "popular" thing. They did what was right. And they did it with people like Boo Radley Jr. staring them down:

I feel like writing a retraction after looking at that pic. If I was on the McAlester City  Council, I'd vote to have the entire town decorated with bronze crosses and praying cowboys. Amen!

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