As someone who dislikes the term political correctness and doesn't think that it's running wild or gone mad or whatever the current formulation is, I am occasionally frustrated by people who seem determined to prove me wrong. I refer in this case to the retrofitting of the LA County Seal, now shorn of its embarrassingly doctrinaire (though tiny) cross in favor of more "inclusive" imagery, on pain of ACLU writ. The poor old goddess Pomona has taken a hit too, presumably because of fears that subtle pro-fruit tree propaganda was creeping into the local school system. In place of the old cross, which used to stick out of the Hollywood Bowl (which was admittedly an odd juxtaposition, but never mind), there's a little picture of the Mission San Gabriel Arcangel - but so carefully angled so as to make it more or less indistinguishable from the average Walmart.
Now, I admit that it might have been more constitutionally convenient if the Mission San Gabriel had been a community outreach center, or perhaps a combo sauna-health club, but the fact remains that it was a Christian church; and if one thinks that it's important enough to Angeleno history to feature on the county seal, then it seems mildly insulting (to the public's intelligence more than its religious sensibility) to pretend otherwise. There comes a point at which the noble desire to defend America's non-sectarian tradition becomes mindless pedantry, and this strays well on the side of the latter, I think.
Posted by Alan Allport at September 10, 2004 04:50 AMI do think that at times we've seen the defenders of separation of church and state descend into iconoclasm, but at least they haven't usually ventured beyond removing monuments from the 1950s-70s. Still seems to beat hell out of French-style laïcité, though.
Yes, at its best the US system aims for impartiality towards religion, whereas the French state is straightforwardly opposed to it (though of course there are very different historical contexts to both these positions). Perhaps it is just because I come from a wishy-washy Anglican background, but I can't help but think that constitutional nitpicking like the LA case causes more problems than it solves.
Posted by: Alan Allport at September 10, 2004 06:59 AMI usually love the ACLU, but sometimes they really do waste peoples time. Aren't there bigger battles to be fought? I'm going to stop promising to send them money...
And if I were a French teacher I would get fired before I would kick a kid out of class for wearing a turban or a cross. Then again if the kid were carrying a sacred sword I would probably have to think about it...
Posted by: molly at September 10, 2004 09:26 AM"As someone who dislikes the term political correctness and doesn't think that it's running wild or gone mad or whatever the current formulation is, I am occasionally frustrated by people who seem determined to prove me wrong."
While we admire your refusal in this statement to become an embittered neo-Horowitzian (yes, I've carefully read his "Radical Son" to understand his viewpoint, as I recommend all do who find his site intolerable, in order that they might understand him), Pythian Apollo predicts that as time goes by you will continue to encounter those who "seem determined to prove you wrong," with increasing frequency.
Posted by: Timothy Doran at September 11, 2004 09:51 AMWho cares what the LA county seal looks like? If anyone did, there would have been a fight over it. The ACLU has wasted their own time as well as the time of those who bother getting upset over it.
This is a particularly idiotic case, though. The ACLU really must have better things to do these days. Perhaps the organization needs to be restructured. As far as I can tell, the ACLU has regional chapters all over the place, each one with a section devoted to a particular issue, including "Religious Liberty". Maybe if this is the biggest religious issue the LA chapter could find they should reassign some of their lawyers to other sections. They do themselves a lot of harm pissing around like this.
Posted by: Alan Hogue at September 11, 2004 02:08 PMThey do themselves a lot of harm pissing around like this.
This is what bothers me. I don't care a jot what appears on this seal or any other, but I do care about the continued efficacy of the ACLU. Silly complaints like this only provide ammunition for its opponents, and perpetuate the all-too-familiar public view that the organization is obsessed with liberal nit-picking. We need a healthy watchdog like the ACLU, which is why I hate it when it undermines itself this way.
Posted by: Alan Allport at September 11, 2004 02:15 PM