Alabama Town Bows to Atheists and Removes Bible Verse From Welcome Signs

Many residents in Sylvania, Alabama, are up in arms after a Bible verse was removed from four of the town's welcome signs. The verse, Ephesians 4:5, was taken off of the signs after the Madison, Wisconsin-based group the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) sent a letter calling its presence unconstitutional.

The verse, which reads, "One Lord, One Faith, and One Baptism," was painted over on each of the signs on Monday, according to Mayor Mitchell Dendy. The town's leader claims that this is the first time that there has been a problem with the verse since it was posted three and a half years ago.

The city, like many others that are attacked by the FFRF, doesn't have the means to pay for a costly legal battle, so covering the verses was apparently the most practical and prudent approach. Inevitably, the decision to remove the four mentions of the Bible verse on the "Sylvania Welcomes You" signs came quickly, as FFRF Staff Attorney Patrick Elliot wrote the aforementioned letter on April 17 (you can read the note in its entirety here). Here's a portion of the note:

Dendy reports that he has already received numerous phone calls protesting the decision to bow to the atheist group's demands. Peggy Lee, a local who was quoted by WFSA.com, made her disdain for the decision known.

"I think this is America. We have the right to put scripture where we chose to put it," she said. "If someone has the right to cover the scripture up, we have the right to put that scripture out because God is still God regardless of what anyone believes."

(H/T: WFSA.com)