Atheists Demand Removal of Bigot Serra from Ventura County Seal
LOS ANGELES — Atheists United, the largest atheist member organization in California, sent a open letter on Monday urging the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to remove Junipero Serra from their official seal.
”The non-christian and indigenous communities of Ventura County demand better than a bigot as the symbol of their county,” said Evan Clark, Executive Director of Atheists United. “We demand the Board of Supervisors immediately remove this unconstitutional and hateful symbol of white, religious supremacy.”
County officials recently announced they were considering a redesign of the county seal which currently displays Serra boldly on almost half the circular symbol. This came only days after the Ventura City Council decides to remove Serra’s statue at City Hall.
Serra’s history as a leader of the Catholic missionary expansion in the region is controversial to most indigenous and non-catholic communities. Atheists United’s letter notes: “He and his colleagues systemically banned indigenous beliefs and customs, forced Catholicism and European culture, and imprisoned and beat those that refused to conform.”
On August 11th the Freedom From Religion Foundation also condemned the Ventura County seal and sent a letter outlining its unconstitutionality. “The seal signals an endorsement of Christianity,” FFRF Staff Attorney Chris Line wrote to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors. “The inclusion of a religious figure on the official Ventura County seal violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.”
Atheists United launched an online petition and has committed to organizing its members until the seal is changed. “These are the fights we have to win to keep religion and government separate,” said Clark. “True social justice is not possible when one religious identity maintains privilege over the rest.”
(Open-letter attached)
SENT VIA EMAIL & U.S. MAIL:
Steve.Bennett@ventura.org,
linda.parks@ventura.org,
kelly.long@ventura.org,
supervisor.huber@ventura.org,
John.Zaragoza@ventura.org
Board of Supervisors
Ventura County
800 S. Victoria Ave.
Ventura, CA 93009
Removal of Junipero Serra from County Seal
Dear Ventura County Board of Supervisors:
I am writing on behalf of Atheists United to encourage you to remove the image of Junipero Serra from the Ventura County seal.
A Ventura County resident and Atheists United member has reported that the Ventura County Board of Supervisors is considering redesigning the Ventura County seal in order to remove an image of Junipero Serra which is currently featured prominently. We ask the Board to take immediate action to remove Serra from the seal and replace it with a secular symbol that celebrates Ventura County’s unique cultural and ecological diversity.
Serra helped establish the California Mission system during an era of Spanish colonization. He and his colleagues systemically banned indigenous beliefs and customs, forced Catholicism and European culture, and imprisoned and beat those that refused to conform. This is a face of white, religious supremacy that should not have been platformed, and in this moment of reexamination of symbols and speech cannot be ignored. We stand with the thousands of Ventura County residents uniting for change.
Atheists United is California’s largest atheist membership organization and represents the 4 million Californians who do not believe in any concept of god, gods, or a higher power.1 The purpose of our nonprofit is to protect the separation of government and religion enshrined in our constitution, support thriving atheist communities, and empower our members to express their secular values. Ventura's nontheists do not want their home to be signified by a religious figure or institution.
The inclusion of an explicitly religious figure on an official government seal is also unequivocally in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Federal courts have consistently ruled that religious symbols on official city logos or representations violate the Establishment Clause, and The Ventura County seal would surely be found unconstitutional.2
The County has an incredible opportunity at this moment to remove an exclusionary religious image from its official seal and celebrate the religious and cultural diversity if its people. Nearly 30% of adults in the U.S. are non-Christian, and 24% practice no religion at all.3 The only constitutional and inclusive path forward that atheists and our religious allies will accept is for the County to remain neutral on matters of religion.
We urge the County to find new imagery for its seal that’s free of religious privilege and welcoming to all religious and secular identities.
Sincerely,
Evan Clark
Executive Director
Atheists United
_______________________
2 https://ffrf.org/uploads/legal/VenturaCountyCA.pdf
3 Robert P. Jones & Daniel Cox, America’s Changing Religious Identity, Public Religion Research Institute (Sept. 6, 2017), available at www.prri.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/PRRI-Religion-Report.pdf.
