Protest by ACLU Yields Sea of Religious Signs

Civil libertarians won a battle over public religious displays in this small Louisiana town. But residents say they’re victors too.

More than 1,000 signs proclaiming that “God Is Lord Over All” now dot lawns and storefronts around the town of 4,000.

A local sign-maker has sold about 2,800 more to people from surrounding towns, and a traveling salesman has started hawking them in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

The signs are a response to a lawsuit from the Louisiana branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU sued Franklinton and forced town officials to remove four signs from public property that said, “Jesus Is Lord Over Franklinton.”

Residents responded by planting similar signs in their frontyards. In many neighborhoods, it’s now tough to find a yard that doesn’t have one.

“There was sort of an outcry from the Christian community,” said Gene Richards, pastor of Hill Crest Baptist Church. “It seems the ACLU is trying to de-Christianize the community.”

ACLU officials say they are merely defending the Constitution.

The civil liberties group filed its federal lawsuit a month ago, demanding the removal of the signs leading into town. ACLU officials named Washington Parish and town officials in their complaint, saying public money was used to erect the signs--which they say violate the country’s constitutional provision for separation of church and state.

Parish President M.E. Taylor acknowledged that parish road crews put up the signs, but he said residents paid for them.

New Orleans resident Linton Carney, who joined the ACLU as a plaintiff, said he was offended when he saw the signs in July while driving through Franklinton, which is 55 miles north of New Orleans.

“I was so upset to see such a sign that makes non-Christians unwelcome in Franklinton,” Carney said when the suit was filed. “Can you imagine the hostility that Jews, Muslims, members of other minority faiths and nonbelievers must feel when living in or passing through that community?”

Word about the lawsuit spread. The idea to put signs on private property came independently to pastors and a group of residents organizing their annual parish fair, said Madonna Fowler, 54, a retired Franklinton teacher.

Homeowners put them in their yards. Some put them inside car windows. Business owners planted them in front of Radio Shack, Crown Auto Sales and Winston Refrigeration.

Word spread.

“Now they’re in every town in Washington Parish,” said Scott Blair, owner of All Star Graphics, which makes the $3 and $5 signs.