City of Sterling, Colorado Backpeddles, will now Allow "Jesus" to be Engraved on Tombstone

Teresa Neumann-Commentary : Oct 22, 2013
Heather Clark – Christian News

"The government shouldn't tell us what to think, what to say and what to believe. In their misguided attempts to offend no one, they end up offending many." -Stacy Adams, who questions why people are so fearful of one name that they go to great lengths to eliminate it on a departed loved one's headstone no less.

(Sterling, CO)—Just when it seems assaults on religious rights for Christians in America could get no more bizarre, this story comes along.

After battling cancer, Linda Baker, wife of Pastor Mark Baker of Ovid, Colorado, passed away, her last wish being that her tombstone be engraved with an Ichthus fish (symbol of Christianity) with Jesus' name in the center.

No problem, right? Think again.

When the Baker family informed Shawn Rewoldt, director of Sterling, Colorado's city-owned cemetery of their plans, he told them it would be a problem and couldn't allow it. Not only that but he flat out refused to work with the Bakers and threatened to take the matter to the city attorney.

As to why it would be an issue, family member Stacy Adams said, "After we kept pushing them, the cemetery director told us that it might offend somebody," and asked her what she would think if someone wanted to put a swastika on a headstone.

As if a swastika and a Christian symbol are even remotely in the same category? I'll refrain from suspecting that the director might have thought so.

Speaking to WTSB News, Adams noted, "[They] are full Scriptures (Christian-themed tombstones) everywhere you look. You can't walk two feet without tripping over them."

When the Bakers failed to get any support from Sterling's City Manager Joe Kiolbasa, they turned to social media and other news outlets to bring attention to the injustice.

Needless to say, it didn't take long for the city to start backpedalling; issuing a statement that there had been an "error" in the cemetery director's decision.

Ya' think?

The Baker family should be congratulated for standing firm in their beliefs and constitutional rights in the face of such politically motivated disrespect. And to think they had to stand their ground in the midst of grieving for their loved one makes me admire their perseverance even more.