Archangel Michael statue may yet win the battle against the ACLU after an army of warriors rallies to its cause
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“Florian, to be sure, is venerated as a Catholic saint. But that isn’t why the City of Quincy is putting him on its public safety building,” the IAFF’s court filing reads. “Rather, that choice reflects a centuries-old tradition that honors Florian — entirely apart from his significance in the Catholic Church — as a symbol of the courage, selflessness, and sacrifice of firefighters around the world.”
Moreover, the association underscored that Florian’s legend is now “part of the cultural fabric of firefighting.”
The National Association of Police Organizations similarly said of the St. Michael statue, “Although Michael’s origins are religious, his significance extends far beyond that context. He is the archetype of core law-enforcement virtues: justice, courage, leadership, and defense of the innocent.”
The National Fraternal Order of Police echoed this understanding and drove the point home:
The erection of these statues shows no semblance of religious subordination or favoritism. For this Court to prohibit these statues would not only run contrary to the text and purpose of the Religion Clauses of the Massachusetts Constitution but would also rob the people of Quincy of a special opportunity to honor their firefighters and police officers.
While the Knights of Columbus highlighted America’s and Massachusetts’ rich histories of acknowledging religion in public art, the Islam and Religious Freedom Action Team and the Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty discussed the likely fallout of the ACLU prevailing in this case and how that result might disproportionately impact minority faiths.
They noted, for example, that a ruling against Quincy might set a precedent for denying practicing Jews the ability to build an eruv in public — a demarcated area, created by placing nearly invisible wires on existing utility poles, that permits Jews to carry essential items on the Sabbath.
The American Legion said in its filing that giving the secularists a win here “would put the Massachusetts Constitution on a collision court with the federal one.” The Legion noted further that while a state may not favor a religion, it “also may not favor nonreligion by adopting a posture of hostility towards faith.”
Joseph Davis, senior counsel at Becket and attorney for Quincy, stated, “By picking this fight, the ACLU has pitted itself against the very heroes who keep our communities safe.”
“This broad coalition of firefighters and police — along with diverse faith communities, public policy experts, and legal scholars — proves just how out of touch the ACLU has become,” Davis continued. “We’re hopeful the court will see through this attack and side with Quincy.”
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