I am indebted to Wilhelm Kuhner and his slim volume, The Christian Flag, its muddy history and ongoing relevance to us all for much of the material in this blog.
This week Torrington, CT, became the latest city to allow a Christian flag to be flown on a municipal flagpole. City officials defended the decision saying it would bring unity among Christian traditions. Last year the city of New Britain, CT, made the same decision. Around the country cities and towns are re-evaluating their flag flying policies.
This is happening due to a rare unanimous Supreme Court decision (in Shurtleff v Boston) that found the city of Boston had discriminated against a Christian group by not allowing it to fly a Christian flag at city hall. The city allows other groups to hoist flags when they have ceremonies on the steps of city hall. Therefore, not allowing a Christian group to do the same was cited as a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech. The ACLU agreed.
The city of Boston reasoned that flying a Christian flag amounted to a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment which states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibit the free exercise thereof.…” The city held the position that flying a Christian flag on a city flagpole was a tacit endorsement of Christianity. They lost as SCOTUS ruled in favor of Shurtleff.
This is a very slippery slope. Would the same decision be made if the issue was flying a Star of David flag at an anti-Semitism protest? Would the same decision be made if the issue was flying a crescent moon with a star, the flag of Islam? Methinks not.
In addition, the Christian flag is not universally supported as a symbol of Christianity or Christian unity. Its roots stretch back to the late 1800’s when a Sunday school superintendent on Coney Island gave an impromptu speech about the need for a central Christian symbol. The idea seems innocent enough, but the lived out history is far more problematic.
The Christian flag has always had a political agenda and has been bandied about by conservatives and progressives since its beginning. In 1942 the Federal Council of Churches, a predecessor body to the National Council of Churches, “Issued recommendations on the use of flags in church buildings in response to requests by church groups” as American(s) entered the Second World War. Unity and tolerance movements spread to combat rising ethnic and religious intolerance and bigotry. Christian flags were given to churches, schools and municipalities to promote unity. While well intended, these practices did showcase Christianity at the expense of other religions.
In our contemporary society the Christian flag is far more likely to be associated with conservative rather than progressive theology. As Christian nationalism is on the rise and xenophobia is rampant, the Christian flag has been claimed by religious conservatives to serve their social and political agenda. However well-intentioned the Christian flag was at its inception, it currently does not represent the many and varied expressions of Christian faith in the United States.
This undercurrent of muddy waters makes its appearance on municipal flag poles even more problematic. I agree with the city of Boston that it does suggest a tacit agreement with what the flag currently represents. SCOTUS and the ACLU are doggedly holding to free speech as the issue.
SCOTUS has been inconsistent with its rulings on the separation of church and state. In 1948 it ruled that religious education in public schools was unconstitutional. Almost seventy-five years later, the Court does an about face with its 2022 decision in Shurtleff v. Boston. The conservative face of the today’s Court and its leanings toward Christian nationalism make their decision understandable, but no less troubling.
Unless a Jewish and Muslim flag have equal access to municipal flag poles for their celebrations, this remains an establishment issue and not a free speech issue. Or perhaps it is a free speech issue…for some.
The Irreverent Reverend 