Don’t cross Secret Service
REV. DR. DEBORAH BARRETT
A Christian group has voiced its criticism of the Secret Service
after being informed that crosses, among other items, would not be
permitted along the route for the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration
parade. The Christian Defense Coalition had been planning a prayer
vigil and demonstration near the route. The Secret Service gave the
group a permit to gather along the parade route, but also included a
list of items that could not be brought. The list includes firearms,
explosives, folding chairs, bicycles, papier-mache objects and more.
National security concerns aside, does the group have a legitimate
argument for the right to bring crosses, or any religious symbol, to
the inauguration parade?
If I carry a life-sized wooden Buddha seated in meditation to a
demonstration against the war in Iraq, do you think the police will
stop me? The Christian Defense Coalition contends that only people
carrying crosses will be singled out by the Secret Service.
I imagine this kind of scenario, not because I would want to do
it, but to be objective, to test whether religious freedom has been
threatened in a situation where I find myself strongly opposed to the
agenda of the group alleging discrimination. In this case, it is the
Christian Defense Coalition’s demonstration along the inauguration
parade route against a woman’s legal right to choose abortion. This
is a simple security matter, but the group is highly adept at using
press releases to spin it as anti-Christian discrimination, to
further their cause and magnify their importance.
What is the real question? May the materials used for religious
symbols at public demonstrations be limited in the interest of public
safety? The question is not whether Christian crosses may be worn or
displayed, but rather the type of material used in their construction
and the size of them. Could the symbol conceal a weapon, or could the
symbol itself be used as a weapon? The chief counsel for the Secret
Service clearly stated that the image of the cross has not been
banned and that individuals attending the parade are free to place
the image on signs and banners, to wear crosses, to carry rosaries or
to use the image in any way that does not conflict with safety
concerns.
In response to their application, the Christian Defense Coalition
did receive a permit to demonstrate at a specific site along the
inaugural parade route. The goal of their demonstration is the
appointment of Supreme Court justices who will limit or end legalized
abortion. Their activities in the past have included demonstrating
outside abortion clinics as well as letters of support for the
placing of the Ten Commandments on public property in Alabama.
But regardless of the political agenda of the group, the Secret
Service applied the pre-existing Park Service regulations governing
demonstration activity on the White House sidewalk and Lafayette
Park. These federal regulations ban “structures” which could be used
to conceal a weapon or which could be utilized as weapons. The
regulations provide a list of examples of what might be meant by the
term “structures,” and it is obvious that the list is not intended to
be comprehensive. I would imagine this list of “such as” was based on
considerable experience with ongoing demonstrations at the national
capitol. The examples are: “coffins, crates, crosses, theaters, cages
and statues.”
I don’t mind if I can’t carry large, potentially dangerous items
to a demonstration, and I am very glad that other people cannot. I do
mind misrepresentation of situations and issues in order to get
national media attention.
REV. DR. DEBORAH BARRETT
Zen Center of Orange County
Costa Mesa
Banning firearms and explosives seems a prudent proscription
during the inaugural activities ... but a cross?
This would appear to be another outbreak of over-zealousness, if
not hysteria, among law enforcement officials. I fail to understand
how the cross poses a threat to the general order or could be labeled
a security risk.
If men wearing bedsheets intended to set a cross on fire, that
would be an unwelcome prospect warranting interdiction. But that the
cross might be used as a weapon of violence along the parade route
stretches credulity. I suppose, though, we should be grateful that
our government is protecting us from the clear and present danger
posed by cross-wielding thugs. Although we cannot locate weapons of
mass destruction in Iraq, we obviously have no trouble in labeling
the cross as potential weaponry.
Since the inauguration ceremony itself features prayers by
Christian clerics, explicit references to Jesus, and the President
taking the oath as his hand rests on a Christian Bible, it can hardly
be maintained that a cross violates the spirit of the event (a
fascinating footnote: President Clinton took the oath in 1993 with
his family Bible opened to Galatians 6:8, “For he that sows to his
flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption ... “).
This much ado about nothing strikes me as a case of bureaucratic
paranoia and whoever conceived it should be cross-examined.
RABBI MARK S. MILLER
Temple Bat Yam
Newport Beach
First, the Secret Service seems to be saying that structures,
including those looking like crosses cannot be constructed along the
parade route. Second, why did they single out crosses?
Any large object could be turned into a weapon against the
president. I appreciate the efforts of the Secret Service to protect
him. We would be naive to believe that terrorists respect the symbols
of any religion, even their own, especially if neglecting to do so
would accomplish their goals.
In researching this, it seems the Secret Service had intended to
say that even objects constructed to look like religious symbols
would not be permitted. The Secret Service could have said precisely
that, but instead used the word “Cross” instead. They did clarify and
say that crosses were not banned when made of approved products like
cardboard, only when made of metal, wood, etc.
This is a tempest in a teapot. Crosses were not banned from
appearing in the parade and I assume many people will be wearing
crosses and holding up banners with crosses. I trust the same would
be true of the Star of David or the crescent moon of Islam.
SENIOR ASSOCIATE PASTOR RIC OLSEN
Harbor Trinity
Costa Mesa
Why wouldn’t President Bush rejoice to have the symbol of his Lord
and Savior along the route of his parade ... even if it must be only
two-dimensional? Does our Secret Service have information that
crosses will be used to conceal things more dangerous than antennae
for cellular telephones? Are they afraid that someone on
Bonds/Giambi-like steroids will use one to clobber them? Who put
together a list excluding items ranging from explosives to
papier-mache objects? Will this be the focus of another Michael Moore
expose?
Answers to such questions lie beneath the real truth. The truth is
that the cross is the Christian symbol for life that is God’s gift,
life that is wonderful and precious beyond our imaginations, life
that is for each and every human being. The cross reminds us that God
is not a Christian or a Jew or a Muslim or a Buddhist or a Hindu,
that God is sovereign over all nations, that God is neither a
Democrat nor a Republican ... Hmmm ...
VERY REV. CANON PETER D. HAYNES
St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church
Corona del Mar
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