A Game of Flag Tug-A-War

In the small town of Rienzi, Mississippi, tensions have started to boil over between religious and non-religious groups. (Neffinger, www.christianheadlines.com) Members of the town have held rallies and protests after their mayor was forced to take down the Christen flag that flew over one of the town’s parks. (Neffinger, www.christianheadlines.com) This happened because the atheist organization, Freedom from Religion Foundation, threatened to sue the city for $500,000 if the mayor did not remove the flag. (Neffinger, www.christianheadlines.com) The mayor felt he had no choice since it’s such a small town and they can’t afford such a huge lawsuit. (Neffinger, www.christianheadlines.com) The town’s people however, are mainly Christian, and they felt this was wrong. (Neffinger, www.christianheadlines.com) Since then, they’ve been holding these rallies in support of flying the Christian flag in this public area. (Neffinger, www.christianheadlines.com) Meanwhile, at the next town board meeting, there will be a discussion on what further action should be taken. (Neffinger, www.christianheadlines.com) This situation is like an elaborate game of tug-a-war; trying to satisfy both the atheists and the Christians. This demonstrates how religion can, in some ways, both bring people together and tear people apart. This situation has brought all the Christian people together to fight for the same cause. At the same time, this situation has divided religious and non-religious people. It really poses an interesting problem. This Christian flag and Christianity really seem to be a part of this town’s identity and to have an outside group come in and tell them it’s not allowed, it’s kind of understandable why the town’s people would be so upset. In the end though, only time will tell how this scenario will end.