MISSISSIPPI TOWN RALLIES AFTER ATHEIST COMPLAINT RESULTS IN REMOVAL OF CHRISTIAN FLAG

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MISSISSIPPI TOWN RALLIES AFTER ATHEIST COMPLAINT RESULTS IN REMOVAL 
OF CHRISTIAN FLAG 
BY HEATHER CLARK
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
RIENZI, Miss. — Over 100 residents from a small
Mississippi town rallied on Saturday after a complaint from a prominent
professing atheist organization that took issue with a Christian flag
being displayed in a public park resulted in the removal of the banner.

The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) sent a
letter on Jan. 20 to Rienzi Mayor Walter Williams to assert that the
flag, which had been flown in Veterans Memorial Park, was
unconstitutional.
It said that it had been contacted by a local
resident—who was not named—to advise them of the flag’s presence.
“We write to ensure that the town remove the Christian flag from its
memorial garden in order to avoid unconstitutional religious
endorsement,” the letter
read. “We appreciate that the town of Reinzi is attempting to
memorialize [veterans’] sacrifice. But as numerous government entities
have already discovered, honoring those who have served their community
and country does not override the need to remain neutral toward
religion.”
FFRF urged Williams to utilize a completely secular display instead,
and noted that it can be “quite costly” to ignore their request as
another city settled with FFRF in 2015 for $500,000.

“There are countless ways to recognize the sacrifice of our veterans
and military members without also endorsing one religion over all others
in violation of the Constitution,” it said. “By flying a Christian flag
over the memorial, Rienzi sends the message that the town values the
service of minority religious and nonreligious service members less than
their Christian counterparts.”
As a result of the letter, Williams had the flag removed.
“I never dreamed that something like this would have happened in a
town this small, but it happened,” he told local television station
WREG. “We’re gonna fly that flag again and I’m hoping it’s not going to
be long.”

On Saturday, more than 100 residents from the small town of 300 held a
rally in support of the flag, some themselves bearing the emblem.
“We’re not gonna let other people, or a foundation, or anybody else
up in Wisconsin tell us that we can’t fly our flag!” organizer Kevin
Nelms proclaimed to those gathered.
“My whole point behind this [is], you’re gonna take one down, we’re
gonna put a hundred back up,” he added to reporters. Supporters ran
another Christian flag up the flagpole during the event.
Nelms and his group rode from the VFW on their motorcycles to Veterans Memorial Park, flying the flag as they went.
“As a proud American, but number one as a proud Christian, I came
today to stand up for the Lord and stand up for our freedom,”
participant Susan Woodruff stated.
Williams says that he has hired an attorney and further discussion
about the matter will be held at its next board meeting on Tuesday. He
was among those who attended the rally on Saturday.
______________________________________________________

 Rienzi, Mississippi Christian Flag Rally (2/4/17) 
 Published on Feb 4, 2017
A
crowd of people waving Christian flags descended on the Veterans
Memorial in Rienzi on Saturday after the Freedom From Religion
Foundation sent a letter to the town. The letter stated, “A religious
memorial, like any other religious display endorsed by the government,
is unconstitutional.” The town removed the flag for the time being, but
Rienzi Mayor Walter Williams hopes the Christian flag can fly again at
the site soon.
 SHOULD
A MISSISSIPPI TOWN HAVE TO REMOVE A CHRISTIAN FLAG?

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
 
By
Jake MacAulay
February 8, 2017
NewsWithViews.com
The
United States Code refers to the Declaration of Independence as the “organic
law” of the United States. And the Declaration clearly claims that
there is an Almighty Creator God, that our rights come from Him, and that
the purpose of civil government is to protect and defend the God-given
rights of the people. The Declaration makes reference to the Bible, God’s
Word, as the source of earthly, legal authority.
Civil
government includes federal, state, and local city governments like the
town of Rienzi, Mississippi, where this past weekend more than 1/3 of
the town’s population showed up to a rally in defense of a Christian
flag flying over their Veterans Memorial Park.
It seems
the Freedom from Religion organization wrote a letter that threatened
a half-million-dollar lawsuit against the small town of 300 people if
the flag wasn’t taken down.
Some
folks like organizer Kevin Nelms responded like Americans, declaring,
“We’re not gonna let other people, or a foundation, or anybody else
up in Wisconsin tell us that we can’t fly our flag! You’re gonna take
one down; we’re gonna put a hundred back up.”
Unfortunately
there were city government leaders showing a bit more bewilderment and
naiveté. Believing that he had no choice in the matter, Rienzi
Mayor Walter Williams pulled the flag down, saying, “I never dreamed
that something like this would have happened in a town this small, but
it happened.”
I am
sure this mayor is shocked that the First Amendment, which states, “Congress
shall make no Law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof…” would be used as a legal threat
by an assailing organization that hates God.
So,
the legal question I present to you is whether the city has broken the
law by flying a Christian flag, among others, at a Veterans memorial?
In other words, does flying a flag equate to Congress making a law, the
effect of which is to establish an official United States religion?
Well,
the answer seems to clearly be “NO” for at least two very
simple reasons:
1. The
city of Renzi is NOT “Congress”
2. A flag being hung is not a “law”
In order
to find that a flag hung in Mississippi (or anywhere else) is a violation
of the Establishment Clause, the first thing you have to conclude is that
the city of Renzi is, in legal contemplation, the Congress of the United
States.
Crazy,
you say?
I agree.
But this is exactly the conclusion that some maintain through a “legal
fiction” the courts call the “Incorporation Doctrine.”
 George
Washington, our First President, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces
that won the war for our independence, and the President of the Congress
that gave us our Constitution and the First Amendment, insisted:
“Of
all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion
and Morality are indispensable supports.
In vain would that man
claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labour to subvert these great
Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and
citizens.”
In other
words, George Washington would have called dysfunctional organizations
like the Freedom from Religion “un-Patriotic” and therefore
“un-American”! So along with the city of Renzi, let’s
be Patriots and hang our Christian flags!
Learn
more about your Constitution with Jake MacAulay and his Institute on the
Constitution and receive your
free gift
.