Will Rogers, an East Texas mayor, is defending the presence of an 18-foot city sign which reads "Jesus Welcomes You To Hawkins," in part by arguing that Jesus is no different than Superman,
Talking Points Memo reported.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) requested the sign be removed from city property after a concerned local citizen informed the foundation of its presence.
But according to
KETK, the mayor told a city council meeting that there wasn't anything wrong or offensive with the sign because "you can't pin one religion on Jesus."
FFRF, which focuses on maintaining the separation of church and state throughout the nation, argues that the welcome sign violates the First Amendment.
Rogers also claims the sign does not violate the Constitution in any way because Jesus is a public figure,
KLTV reported.
"What violation is it for someone to welcome you into a town? If you don’t believe that Jesus existed, then he would be fiction. If he’s fiction, and you want to remove his name from everything, then you need to remove every fiction name that there is across the country," Rogers told the station.
"That means we couldn’t say Superman welcomes you to town."
KLTV reports that despite the public meeting, no action will be taken before a survey is conducted to determine whether the sign is actually on city property.