Nestled in the quiet expanse of Texas Hill Country farm and ranchland, the small town of Hondo, Texas has long been a window to the heart of issues facing entire country for decades. The cops and robbers craze of the roaring twenties made its presence felt when two Hondo banks were robbed by the most successful outlaws in the United States, the Newton Boys. Hondo was chosen to be the site of the largest air navigation school in the world to support the war effort during WWII in the early 1940s.
Now the town reflects the ongoing battle between separation of church and state groups and the fight for religious symbolism on government properties. The objects in question are the iconic signs welcoming drivers into town, “This is God’s country please don’t drive through it like hell.”
Photo:
en.wikipedia.org,
The original Hondo Welcome Sign taken by Robert Schrandt of LaVarian Schrandt in 1941
The iconic signs have greeted passers-by with the wit and grit that reflects the essence of this proud Texas town for over 80 years. After multiple renovations and countless selfies, the signs may face their greatest battle yet, a legal challenge. In a recent letter sent to Hondo mayor Jim Danner, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) requested the sign be removed from public property based on complaints the signs received from two Texans, according to FFRF Attorney Sam Grover. In their letter FFRF co-founder Annie Laurie Grayor sites a handful of court cases to support their request saying, “It is inappropriate for the City of Hondo to display religious signs that convey government preference for religion over nonreligion.”
Grover acknowledged the signs’ inherent satire but insisted they step over the line, “We recognize that there is an element of the sign that is tongue-in-cheek. But it’s not clear that the satire extends to the statement ‘This is God’s Country.” He also claims that “reasonable” observers of the sign would conclude the signs represent an endorsement of religion, “despite its whimsical nature.” In their letter to the city, the FFRF requested officials find an “alternative way” to encourage good driving that withholds from endorsing religion, a request Mayor Danner defied according to a recent article by the San Antonio Express-News, “There’s no way in hell we’re going to take those signs down,” Danner contended.
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