Jesus and Cemeteries

[Gregory Matthews]

In Sterling, Colorado, the wife of a local pastor died. The family wanted to engrave the word "Jesus" and the ancient Christian symbol of a fish on the cemetery marker. The cemetery manager of the cemetery, which was owned by the city of Sterling informed the family that the word "Jesus" could not be engraved on the marker as some people would likely find that word offensive.

The manager has backed down and the family has now been informed that they may engrave the word "Jesus" on the marker.

This information came from the October 18, 2013 edition of THE DENVER POST.

[kailooa]

Right. So. There's not a lot of detail in the story, but here's what we know. The cemetery manager, acting alone, apparently got confused either because of personal feelings or a foggy notion of separation of church and state. Informed the family that Jesus could not be used. It's not clear what reversed the manager's position; either the family brought this to the attention of the higher-ups, who then clarified the city's position, or the family escalated the situation in some other way (perhaps, say, by bringing it to the media.) The cemetery manager reversed his/her position and allowed Jesus on the tombstone.

Why is this news? It didn't go to court. It did not involve a protracted battle.

I think it's interesting that the media seems to be on the lookout for (very rare, usually very minor) "anti-Christian" incidents, when the Christian majority in this country actually enjoys almost limitless freedom and undisputed dominance in our society.