{"id":2289466,"date":"2024-07-05T11:14:01","date_gmt":"2024-07-05T15:14:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/officials-attempted-to-ban-crosses-and-other-religious-symbols-from-july-4-parade-but-it-didnt-work-out-well\/"},"modified":"2024-07-05T11:19:54","modified_gmt":"2024-07-05T15:19:54","slug":"officials-attempted-to-ban-crosses-and-other-religious-symbols-from-july-4-parade-but-it-didnt-work-out-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/officials-attempted-to-ban-crosses-and-other-religious-symbols-from-july-4-parade-but-it-didnt-work-out-well\/","title":{"rendered":"Officials Attempted to Ban Crosses and Other Religious Symbols from July 4 Parade, But It &#8216;Didn&#8217;t Work Out Well&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">38<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fofficials-attempted-to-ban-crosses-and-other-religious-symbols-from-july-4-parade-but-it-didnt-work-out-well%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2289466&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The town \u2063of Coeur d\u2019Alene, Idaho faced backlash\u200d after originally prohibiting religious symbols from \u2063being part\u200c of the Fourth of July \u200bparade. The ban\u200d was intended to prevent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/penguin-random-house-and-authors-sue-iowa-over-book-ban\/\" title=\"Penguin Random House and authors take legal action against Iowa&#039;s book ban\">potentially offensive material<\/a> from being included in the festivities, but the \u2062community voiced \u200btheir opposition to the \u2062decision. Ultimately, organizers \u2062made an \u200dexception for religious\u2064 symbols,\u200b and crosses were prominently featured in the parade. The incident sparked a debate \u2063about religious \u200dfreedom and the Founders&#8217; vision of a country without <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-health-nominee-mum-on-taxpayer-funded-abortion\/\" title=\"Biden Health Nominee Mum On Taxpayer Funded Abortion\">government interference<\/a> in matters of faith. Despite the challenges of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-group-seeks-to-recruit-states-to-fight-chinese-communist-influence-it-must-end\/\" title=\"New group aims to rally states against Chinese Communist influence: &#039;It must stop\">organizing public events<\/a> in a diverse\u200b society, the importance of upholding core principles of American freedoms \u200dwas highlighted.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"> <?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<header> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/commentary\/\">  Commentary <\/a>   <span> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/jsaunders\/\">  <\/a> <\/p>\n<p> <span>   By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/jsaunders\/%20\"><span>Joe Saunders<\/span><\/a> <\/span> <span>   July 5, 2024 at 7:15am <\/span> <\/span>  <\/header>\n<section>\n<p>A town in the Mountain West found out the hard way that banning the most potent symbol in Christianity is not the best way to celebrate the nation\u2019s enduring freedoms.<\/p>\n<p>Rules for this year\u2019s Fourth of July parade in Coeur d\u2019Alene, Idaho, originally prohibited religious symbols from being part of the procession \u2014 a bitter irony in a country where the very first provision of the very First Amendment guarantees the free exercise of religion.<\/p>\n<p>And the backlash forced organizers to back down.<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/cdapress.com\/news\/2024\/jul\/02\/religious-symbols-will-be-allowed-in-coeur-dalene-parade\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Coeur d\u2019Alene \/ Post Falls Press<\/a>, the Coeur d\u2019Alene Regional Chamber announced its ban on religious symbols as part of a blanket ban on potentially offensive material being part of the festivities.<\/p>\n<p>Chamber President and CEO Linda Coppess told the newspaper in an email that the ban was not intended \u201cto isolate individuals or be considered an anti-religious policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the past, Coppess wrote, the chamber \u201creceived numerous complaints about displays that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/marie-harf-accuses-trump-allies-of-using-fauci-as-a-punching-bag-to-deflect-from-their-failures\/\" title=\"Marie Harf Accuses Trump Allies Of Using Fauci As \u2018A Punching Bag\u2019 To \u2018Deflect From Their Failures\u2019\">people found offensive<\/a>, including \u2018Confederate flags, derogatory illustrations, harsh politically-based language, and graphic photographs,\u2019\u201d the Press reported.<\/p>\n<p>Yeah, well, using a sledgehammer to try to kill a fly might not be intended to put massive holes in the living room wall, but that\u2019s what tends to happen \u2014 and the overkill generally doesn\u2019t kill the fly anyway.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, the people of the Coeur d\u2019Alene region \u2014 the people who actually make up community events like Fourth of July parades \u2014 weren\u2019t standing for it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut an outcry gained momentum over the weekend and after criticism, \u2018misunderstandings and accusations,\u2019 the board reconsidered and made \u2018an exception for the religious symbols,&#8217;\u201d The Press reported.<\/p>\n<p>And crosses were prominent in the parade:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Banning Crosses didn\u2019t work out well for the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cdachamber?\">@cdachamber<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We the People have had enough of the anti-Christ tyrants that are in control of Coeur d\u2019Alene.<\/p>\n<p>CHRIST IS KING! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/KQLPXCOtTJ\">pic.twitter.com\/KQLPXCOtTJ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Idaho Tribune (@IdahoTribune) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IdahoTribune\/status\/1808934202651652472?\">July 4, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cBanning crosses didn\u2019t work out well for the @cdachamber,\u201d declared a social media post published by the conservative news site the Idaho Tribune.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe the People have had enough of the anti-Christ tyrants that are in control of Coeur d\u2019Alene.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now, calling the Idaho Regional Chamber \u201canti-Christ tyrants\u201d is probably a worse case of overkill than the parade banning religious symbols in the first place. But that doesn\u2019t excuse the parade organizers\u2019 original decision.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Happy Independence Day!<\/p>\n<p>Thank you to everyone who helped us change the Coeur D\u2019Alene parade\u2019s policy on crosses!<\/p>\n<p>Christians should be free to express their faith at celebrations of this country.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/idpol?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#idpol<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HgBQlBdq8c\">https:\/\/t.co\/HgBQlBdq8c<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/j9FUZGjWgR\">pic.twitter.com\/j9FUZGjWgR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Idaho Family Policy Center (@IdahoFamilyPC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IdahoFamilyPC\/status\/1808986445085827487?\">July 4, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Religious freedom has been a thread woven through the history of the United States <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/virginia-cross-americas-mission-set-long-declaration-independence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">starting long before<\/a> there even was a United States. Not all, of course, but many of the first European settlers came to the New World in order to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/pilgrims-landed-americas-shores-adopted-revolutionary-self-government-400-years-ago\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">escape the religious persecution<\/a> of the Old.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/founding-docs\/declaration\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Declaration of Independence<\/a> specifically cites the \u201cCreator\u201d as the source of human rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And while the Constitution makes no mention of God, its text specifically forbids any religious text for office holders and the free expression clause of the <a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.congress.gov\/constitution\/amendment-1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">First Amendment<\/a> specifically forbids government interference with worship.<\/p>\n<p>In short the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/op-ed-founders-knew-price-purpose-freedom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Founders<\/a>, whatever their personal beliefs, wanted no government control over religion. And it\u2019s a very safe bet those same Founders would be aghast that a parade organized to celebrate the birthday of the country they created would have a provision forbidding its participants from the free exercise of their faith.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s true that anyone who follows the news in the Year of Our Lord 2024 can understand how the chamber got spooked \u2014 the Press reported that Coppess said she had received more than 50 complaints about material at last year\u2019s parade that offended someone.<\/p>\n<p>And in an age of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/star-actress-comes-defense-harrison-butker-nothing-offensive-said\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">astroturf outrage<\/a> just waiting on the internet, for many, discretion is the better part of valor \u2014 even if that means sacrificing core principles of American freedoms.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also true that there are going to be headaches for anyone organizing a public event like this \u2014 don\u2019t be surprised if some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/satanic-temple-erects-new-holiday-display-featuring-goats-skull-state-capitol\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Satanic Temple<\/a> crank or some similar outfit is pushing for a float in next year\u2019s parade, thanks to the controversy here.<\/p>\n<p>But freedom can be a messy business. The Founders knew that, and they committed the country to it anyway.<\/p>\n<p>Americans today have to live up to that.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div>\n<p><b><i>A Note from Our Deputy Managing Editor:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><i><span>I heard a chilling comment the other day: \u201cWe don\u2019t even know if an election will be held in 2024.\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>That wasn\u2019t said by a conspiracy theorist or a doomsday prophet. No, former U.S. national security advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn said that to the founder of The Western Journal, Floyd Brown.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Gen. Flynn\u2019s warning means that the 2024 election is the most important election for every single living American. If we lose this one to the wealthy elites who hate us, hate God, and hate what America stands for, we can only assume that 248 years of American history and the values we hold dear to our hearts may soon vanish.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>The end game is here, and as Benjamin Franklin said, \u201cWe must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>All of this means that <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/subscribe\/?utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><i><span>without you<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>, it\u2019s over. We have the platform, the journalists, and the experience to fight back hard, but Big Tech is strangling us through advertising blacklists, shadow bans, and algorithms. Did you know that we\u2019ve been blacklisted by 90% of advertisers? Without direct support from you, our readers, we can\u2019t continue the fight.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Can we count on <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/subscribe\/?utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><i><span>your support<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>? It may not seem like much, but a <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/subscribe\/?utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><i><span>Western Journal Membership<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>  can make all the difference in the world because when you support us directly, you cut Big Tech out of the picture. They lose control. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>A monthly Western Journal Membership costs less than one coffee and breakfast sandwich each month, and it gets you access to ALL of our content \u2014 news, commentary, and premium articles. You\u2019ll experience a radically reduced number of ads, and most importantly you will be vitally supporting the fight for America\u2019s soul in 2024.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>We are literally counting on you because without our members, The Western Journal would cease to exist. Will you <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/subscribe\/?utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><i><span>join us<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>  in the fight? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Sincerely,<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Josh Manning<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Deputy Managing Editor<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>The Western Journal<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/body><\/html><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A town in the Mountain West learned the hard way that banning religious symbols from a Fourth of July parade is not a good way to celebrate freedom. The ban was originally part of a larger ban on potentially offensive material, but backlash from the community forced organizers to make an exception for religious symbols. The history of religious freedom in the United States, as well as the Founders&#8217; commitment to keeping government out of religion, makes it clear that such a ban goes against core American principles. While organizing public events can be challenging, freedom is messy but necessary. The 2024 election is crucial, and support from readers is essential to continue fighting for American values<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2007,"featured_media":2289467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Idaho-July-4-Parade.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[7008,8284,33987,3638,33986],"class_list":["post-2289466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ban","tag-crosses","tag-july-4-parade","tag-officials","tag-religious-symbols"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Idaho-July-4-Parade.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2289466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2007"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2289466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2289466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2289467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2289466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2289466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2289466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}