newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

As part of Starke, Florida’s observance of the National Day of Prayer, the community dedicated a Ten Commandments monument at the Bradford County Courthouse on May 3.

But according to a local group of atheists, the monument violates the First Amendment.

Director of the Florida chapter of American Atheists Bridget Gaudette, said, according to Digital Journal, "The separation of church and state is extremely important because a lot of the residents I have talked to have used the words, 'we're all Christians.'"

Todd Foster, a pastor of a local church, said the atheist protesters were an "invasion of our county, and trying to inflict somebody else's opinion on what we should or should not have."

The $22,000 monument is a privately funded display, and $18,000 of the cost was raised by the Interdenominational Community Men’s Fellowship, a local Baptist group led by Harry Hatcher, according to Florida Baptist Witness.

“It’s not only important for this community,” Hatcher said of the six-ton granite monument. “It’s important for any community. It’s important for individuals.”

Starke was ruled to have violated the Constitution in 2007 when the community placed a large cross on top of its water tower. And according to news4jax.com,the removal of a Ten Commandments marker from the front of the Dixie County courthouse was ordered last year..

Ken Loukinen of American Atheists threatened a lawsuit if the monument was not removed.

Starke resident Daniel Cooney brought his two young sons in support of the atheists’ cause. He has agreed to be the plaintiff in the lawsuit to remove the monument when the case goes to court.