A cross to bear

The county seal of Los Angeles County (my old stomping grounds) is shown to the right. It was designed in 1957 by then County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn.

The ACLU is now pushing to have the seal changed, giving the county two weeks or face a law suit. Why?

Well, if you look really carefully, off to the right, there’s a little cross …

Supporters of the current seal argue that the cross — like the other symbology on the seal — is representative of the history of the county. There are oil derricks, and the Spanish sailing ship ship that first arrived in the county.

The Goddess Pomona – the goddess of gardens and fruit trees – is holding in her arms a sheaf of grain, an orange, a lemon, an avocado and a few grapes to represent Los Angeles County’s agriculture.
She stands on the shore of the Pacific Ocean with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background.
The engineering instruments – the triangle and the caliper – relate to the industrial construction complex of the County and Los Angeles’ vital contribution to the conquest of space.
The Spanish galleon is the San Salvador, which Cabrillo sailed into San Pedro Harbor on October 8, 1542.
The tuna represents the fishing industry of Los Angeles County, and the championship cow, Pearlette, represents the dairy industry.
The Hollywood Bowl indicates the cultural activities, while the two stars represent the County’s motion picture and television industries.
The cross represents the influence of the church and the missions of California.
Oil derricks are symbolic of the oil fields that were discovered on Signal Hill.

The ACLU argues that, based on a letter from the county to the California Secretary of State in 1957, the cross represents religion, and thus is improper under the First Amendment.

Current Supervisor Mike Antonovich says that it’s an historic symbol:

“The cross on our county seal reflects these historical facts,” he said. “It does not mean that we are all Roman Catholic or that everyone who resides in our county is a Christian — it only reflects our historical roots.”

I certainly try to be sensitive to religious freedom issues, but I’m also an historian at heart. The (overwhelming) presence of a pagan goddess in the center of the county seal is not seen as an imposition on religious freedom. Nobody sees the oil derricks as a sign that the county is under the control of the petroleum industry. Nobody thinks Pearlette represents the Golden Calf.

Ah, but Christianity is a living religion, and so folks who feel themselves in explicit or implicity competition against it, or see Christianity (or contemporary religion) as an adversary might conceivably see this as …

… well, as what? I mean, how many people actually were aware of the cross on the seal before the ACLU saber-rattling? And, aware of it now, how many people really think it represents a Vast Christian Conspiracy?

Certainly, were the seal being created today, it would probably be different. Environmentalists would object to the glorification of oil, social conservatives would rail against the celebration of the movie industry, and PETA would plotz over the twin abattoirs of fishing and cattle. And, yes, the ACLU would actively object to inclusion of a cross (and, yes, the Religious Right would actively object to the inclusion of a pagan goddess).

So what? That everyone would find something to object to today is indicative to me that the seal is arguably an historic artifact. Christians lay no more claim to the county than the conquistadors do.

Unless we’re going to rewrite history to ignore the impact of the missions on the county (let alone Christianity on its name), I really can’t support the ACLU’s suit.

(via Volokh)