In response to a threatened lawsuit from an atheist group, the Steubenville, Ohio, city council says it will remove from its new city logo an image of the Franciscan University of Steubenville’s chapel.
The action drew criticism from Franciscan University’s vice president of advancement, Michael Hernon.
“We find it particularly troubling that an out-of-town and out-of-touch group targeted the university for removal from the logo solely because of our religious identity,” Hernon said July 25 on behalf of the university.
“For more than 65 years, Franciscan University of Steubenville has proudly served as an integral part of this community, and we were honored to have our chapel included in the new city of Steubenville logo.”
The city’s present logo, unveiled in December 2011, displays in silhouette the downtown cityscape and various landmarks of the city, including historic Fort Steuben, the Veterans' Memorial Bridge and Franciscan’s Christ the King Chapel.
The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation had threatened legal action over the logo’s inclusion of the chapel and the cross.
Annie Laurie Gaylor told the Steubenville Herald-Star that the logo is a symbol “that Steubenville is a theocracy and is a Christian city where non-Christians or nonbelievers are not favored citizens.”
She said a Steubenville citizen had contacted her organization to complain about the logo, which Gaylor said violates the U.S. Constitution because it includes the chapel.
“While we understand that Franciscan University is a part of the city, the city may not depict the university chapel and cross because to do so places the city's imprimatur behind Christianity,” she said.
On July 24, city officials decided to change the logo, citing concerns that a legal fight would be very expensive for the city.
Hernon said the city included the chapel because it represents Franciscan University, the “world-renowned center of higher learning and one of the largest employers in the region.”
Steubenville businessman Mark Nelson, who helped designed the logo for the city, told the Herald-Star he found it “very frustrating that one person or a small group can complain and ultimately change the city’s logo.”
Hernon said that the university declined the city’s offer to be represented on the logo by another chapel building because the chapel and its cross are the “centerpiece” of the university logo and are “at the heart of our Catholic educational mission.”
He said the chapel’s presence in the logo does not endorse any one religion, but “merely signifies one of the many treasures of Steubenville.”
Deacon Greg Kandra of New York, writing at the Patheos.com blog The Deacon’s Bench, strongly criticized the opposition to the logo: “This sort of foolishness only goes to show that politically correct yahoos on the left have at last become what they most despised among people on the right: intolerant, judgmental, petty and ... picayune.”
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coming soon, only in your own home will you be able to proclaim you are a Christian…....keep voting for the demon-crat party in the election in november and you will get your wish
The same God that society looks for in times of darkness is the one they are seeking vehemendly to remove at all costs.
I guess much like Chick-fil-a doesn’t reflect the values of Chicago as noted by Mayor Rahm Emanuel: “Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values.” the city leadership of Steubenville have decided the Christian values of the Franciscan University no longer reflect the values of Steubenville.
I wonder if this conspicuously anonymous Steubenville citizen who supposedly contacted FFRF actually attended any of the City Council meetings in which the logo was discussed and voiced his/her opposition. Such meetings are open to the public, and their proceedings are a matter of public record.
Amazing. Maybe we should start taking down all logos that don’t have crosses or any symbol of Christianity because they represent the secular religion.
Next stop ST LOUIS, SAN FRANCISCO MINNEASPOLIS ST PAUL, in GOD WE TRUST and the ONE NATION UNDER GOD phrase in the pledge. Absolute drivel, idiocy and more un-constitutional nonsense. City council needs some solid German men with huevos to stand tall.
I’m not a lawyer but I’m not following how the people of a city can’t put whatever the heck they want on their city’s logo. Has the establishment clause been mutilated that much in the eyes of the law?
<sarcasm> I am shocked—shocked!—that there has not been more outcry over the city’s inclusion of Ft. Steubenville (complete with a firearm-carrying uniformed soldier!) and the Veterans Memorial Bridge on behalf of pacifist organizations and those suffering from Gephyrophobia, respectively. The City of Steubenville’s insensitivity to both groups, while perhaps not unConstitutional, is still shameful in the extreme. <sarcasm>
There is a hatred for all things Catholic in the hearts of these atheists.
They don’t believe in the existence of God. The paradox is that the master they serve does believe there is a God.
Vote in the poll that you do NOT support the city’s decision to redesign the logo:
http://www.hsconnect.com/page/polls.list/
The FFRF has this link on their webpage and asks their supporters to support the city’s decision to remove the cross from the logo. It’s time we fight back and let them know that there is an opposing view. It may not change things but it will show solidarity. The city should have fought this decision- too bad they were so cowardly.
Atheists hate all things Catholic. They do not believe in the existence of God.The paradox is that the master they serve does believe in the existence of God. That master has them right where he wants them, in his possession.
The good thing is that our God loves the atheists and wants them for Himself.
And so because we want what our God wants, we should pray for atheists to turn away from the evil one and give their hearts and souls to the Lord.
We’re with you… we support you. May GOD continue to bless you because you have the best university and staff.
My heart ACHES that, again, the rights of the few supersede the rights of the many! Why has our country - where free speech was once so accepted - come to the point of “MY WAY IS THE ONLY RIGHT WAY?” I pray for those poor, narrow minded individuals who feel they have to impose their opinions and beliefs on humanity! May the Holy Spirit come upon them and enlighten them.
Maybe Franciscan University ought to think about moving FROM Steubenville and take its dollars elsewhere if this is how the City treats Catholics. Last time I checked, Steubenville was otherwise a hub of cultural stimulation. (Snicker here. Scratch head.) SHAME ON THE CITY OF STEUBENVILLE!!! My dad took me to a filthy bar there once for the best plate of spaghetti I have ever eaten, but otherwise, the entire city reminded me a lot of the filthy bar.
This is nothing new. If you pay attention to Christian radio and TV, these battles are being fought all over the country most recently now in San Diego with a cross removal from public property and a Jesus statue to the memory of WWII veterans in Montana. There is also a battle in the Congress to stop military Chaplains from praying at events and saying “In Jesus name.” You don’t hear about this in the regular media and less frequently in the Catholic media. No wonder my Christian friends are far more informed than my fellow Catholics about these things. And to think, when I had a conversation after Mass recently about the Jesus statue removal in Montana (which I learned about on my local Christian channel), my fellow Catholic was concerned I might fall prey to Protestantism. Since that time, the Knights of Columbus have also joined the fight to keep the Jesus statue.
Id be willing to bet that Franciscan university had somebody make that complaint just so the school could get some more free press. They are all such drama queens there.
This is so absurd. Are they going to try and change the names of cities too? Los Angeles, San Francisco, St Louis, Maryland, Santa Fe? And the list goes on and on. SHAME on Steubenville for caving. “...not favored people…”?! WHAT?!
How long until it’s decided that as Christians, we offend them just by existing?
The City of Steubenville reviewed its legal options and found itself on the losing side of the argument. Thats because two hundred years of tradition reguarding the separation of Church and State would overwhelm whatever arguments the City might make.
The University could have offered to fight this thing with the City as their proxy with their OWN money… but they didn’t.
The only people out of touch with this issue are the ones working for Franciscan University of Steubenville and whining that they didn’t get their way.
It never ceases to amaze me how communities in this country will bow to the pressure of a few, albeit vocal, hate filled people that aren’t even members of their community! The logo does not force a religion on anyone and is merely silhouettes of local landmarks.
Steubenville should have kept the logo and told the Freedom from Religion Foundation to mind their own business. Bowing to bigotry will only cause it to spread! The only way to stop these kinds of threats and acts is to stand up for what is right!
Jamie Hermann hits it right on the head. We must remind people with force and frequency that Secularism is akin to Atheism and like all philosophies it is evangelical in nature. Even the single-celled amoeba could deduce that the headlong drive of these secularists to drive out religious practices is evangelization.
Please know we live in a democracy not a themocracy
if you want to live in a themocracy you can go to Iran
and the Ayatollah will help you out.
The chapel will be there long after the atheist group is gone.
I agree with what Bonnie said, the logo simply represents a silhouette of a local landmark. Trying to represent the university without the cross makes not sense since that would be erasing part of the university silhouette. It does not mean the city is trying to proselytize, simply that the university has been an integral part of the city. I suppose those that object would, in the end, like to erase that part of the city, and that part of the city’s history.
At first they vandalize your house. Then they attack your dog. Next you need written permission to shop for food. Finally, they ration the air you breathe. Then you are exiled to Mars and forgotten.
“All we are saying, is give piece a chance.”
I have read most of the comments here and all the while shaking my head in dis-belief. Why is it that people cannot understand that atheists do not want to destroy their religion? Listen! I am an atheist, I do not hate christians,(that includes catholics) muslims, those of the jewish persuasion or any other creed that worships a deity! Pray and worship and throw your money at them all you want. Do it seven days a week if you are so inclined, but here is where you all get your undies in a twist; keep it in your houses of worship, your temples, mosques, synagogs and your homes. Do not presume to foist your religious lifestyle on the general public. Organized religion does not belong in the halls of government and religious symbolism does not belong anywhere on public property. I am wondering why the good people of Steubenville who belong to other denominations of christianity did not join in the protest and demand equal space on the logo for Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists, etc., etc. Does their lack of action mean that every single citizen of Steubenville is catholic? I don’t think so. So where does that leave the rest of the citizens who aren’t papists? It makes them second class if their particular creed isn’t represented on the logo. I am an atheist and I am not a hater. I wish the same could be said of everyone in this debate.
Maddawgg. You say keep our religion in our homes or in our places of worship. Who died and left you in charge? By what right do you quarantine us? Here’s what you should do: Practice what you preach. Go to your home and keep your disbelief to yourself. Be offended in the privacy of your home. Walk by a Cross without crying foul. Pass by the Star of David without running to your congressman. Hear someone say one nation under God and ignore it if you don’t like it. Then we will believe it is not your intention to destroy religion.
@Dorinda Sears: Thank you. We are seeing a systematic approach by these people along with the ACLU to nationally remove every vestige of Christianity out of the American culture. Just recently a move has been made to have the three crosses removed from the seal emblem of the city of Sante Fe, New Mexico. And don’t forget Protestant and Catholic chaplains are threatened now from saying “in Jesus name” in deference to those who may be offended. The Pentagon revoked an invitation offered to Franklin Graham (Billy’s son) to pray on the National Day of Prayer because some Islamic group had a hissy fit over his postion on the Koran.
Where is my post?
Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.
The Franciscan University of Steubenville is a valuable treasure to the area. Of course it should be represented in the logo.
Ignorant, intolerant, atheistic bullies. I have nothing more to say about them.
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