Florida rejects atheist monument near Ten Commandments
Oklahoma's Ten Commandment Monument
LEVY COUNTY, Fla. – Officials in a Florida county have denied an application to erect an atheist monument near a Ten Commandments display at the county courthouse.
The group Williston Atheists had submitted an application last month to Levy County officials to place the 1,500 pound granite bench on the grounds.
However, in considering the matter this week, the county said that the proposed monument contained quotes that were considered incomplete. “None of the texts on the proposed monument appear to be a reproduction of the entire text of any document or person, as required in the guidelines,” the county’s report explained.
“The vote was unanimous to deny the application at this time and that was based on the fact that the application in the opinion of our board was not complete, it did not meet all of the guidelines,” County Coordinator Fred Moody reiterated to local television station WCJB.
The monument was to feature quotes from Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, John Adams and American Atheists founder Madalyn Murray O’Hair.
Williston Atheists member Charles Ray Sparrow asserted that the commission’s reasoning was bias because the Ten Commandments monument had not been rejected for the same reason.