Mayor: Lighted Cross Won't Be Removed from City's Water Tower

The mayor of Wilmore, Kentucky, says he will not remove a lighted white cross that sits on top of the city's water tower, despite a legal threat by the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

"In nearly 40 years, no one has ever complained about this cross except this group from Madison," Mayor Harold Rainwater said. "It means a lot to us. It's important to our town. There's nothing that's drawn our town together more than the possibility of losing this cross."

The water tower stands on the campus of Asbury University, a private Christian college.

"The Wilmore cross, displayed on the city water tower, unabashedly creates the perception of government endorsement of Christianity," FFRF staff attorney Rebecca Markert wrote in a letter emailed to Rainwater. "It conveys the message to the nearly 30 percent of the U.S. population who are not Christians that they are not 'favored members of the political community.'"

Markert cites a Supreme Court case from 1989, which found that displaying a nativity scene on government property violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

In the Sept. 29 letter, Markert said the foundation is aware that the water tower sits on property owned by a private Christian college.

But "this is irrelevant," Markert wrote. "Any reasonable observer would understand the city to endorse any messages on the water tower because the water tower has 'WILMORE' printed on it in large letters."

Rainwater said that several lawyers from Lexington and the surrounding area have already offered to represent the city if the FFRF files suit.

Franklin Graham supported the Wilmore cross on social media over the weekend, saying, "These anti-god activists are trying to get their way against the will of the people. Let's pray that they get nowhere!"

Rainwater said the university pays the electric bill for the cross and it has never cost the city anything to leave it in place.