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What a lovely mess they've made in Estes Park with last
week's recall of Town Trustee David Habecker, who refused
to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance before board
meetings. As an atheist, he said he had problems with the
under God
portion of the pledge. A lot of Estes Park
voters had problems with his attitude, and they removed him
from office in a special election last Tuesday.
Two virtues have come into conflict here. One is the democratic right to vote for public officials, and to recall them, for any reason whatsoever. We're supposed to be able to choose our leaders, and in Colorado, we also enjoy the right to circulate petitions, conduct special elections, remove them from office, and replace them with others. That's certainly an important right.
But it appears to conflict with another virtue,
religious freedom. We can start with Article 6 of the
federal constitution: ... no religious Test shall ever
be required as a Qualification to any Office or public
Trust under the United States.
Then there's Article 2, Section 4 of our state
constitution: ... no person shall be denied any civil or
political right, privilege or capacity, on account of his
opinions concerning religion.
The recall in Estes Park certainly appears to violate this provision. A person was denied a political capacity because of his religious opinions. But on the other hand, voters ought to be able to remove elected officials for any reason that satisfies a majority, whether I like that reason or not.
And if I had business interests in Estes Park, Habecker's in-your-face refusal to stand for the Pledge might have bothered me for practical economic reasons.
Here's a guy who doesn't have the common hypocritical decency to stand and mumble during the Pledge. Instead, he makes a federal case out of this. Estes Park is a tourist town. It needs to be known for the exquisite quality of its rubber tomahawks and the scenic majesty of nearby Rocky Mountain National Park, not for a town official who sits during the Pledge. This is just going to roil up the right-thinkers, who will promote boycotts and worse if he stays on the board. And he's supposed to be there to look after the town's interests, not depress the tourist trade the community depends upon for its livelihood.
That's a problem with tourist towns -- the town's image starts to matter way too much. There's also a problem for a court if this is litigated further. A judge might have to decide whether this represents legitimate grassroots democracy in action, as federal Judge Edward Nottingham did earlier this year, or a conspiracy to deprive Habecker of his civil rights.
Federal courts have held in many cases, but not all, that a public body can make the Pledge part of a public meeting as long as it is voluntary. In other words, the town couldn't enforce an ordinance which required recitation of the Pledge as a condition of holding office.
But can the voters do what the municipal government cannot?
Suppose certain right-thinking Coloradans take inspiration from the Estes Park recall, and organize Patriot Fundamentalist Vigilance Committees all over our state. They would closely monitor every elected official -- town board, county commission, school board, city council, sanitation board, etc. -- at every meeting. Any official who does not recite the Pledge (or who opposes adding the Pledge to the meeting agenda) with sufficient clarity and vigor is made the subject of recall petitions and elections.
And why stop at the Pledge at public meetings? Why not recall those officials who don't attend church with sufficient frequency, or New Agers, Wiccans, agnostics, Unitarians, Muslims, Jews, Mormons, etc. who hold public office?
Not all recalls would succeed, of course, but our fundamentalist religious lobbies would enjoy a powerful new tool. Why bother to stand outside the courthouse, praying and demonstrating, when they have this potent way to insure that society conforms to their beliefs about abortion, medical research, Terri Schiavo and all the rest?
Constant recall campaigns based on religious differences could become the diversion to end all diversions in Colorado. See what I mean about Estes Park giving us a lovely mess?
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