A Waynesville church wants to make a statement against proposed local legalization of liquor by the drink. Linda Foster, the wife of the church’s former pastor, Johnny, was killed in an auto accident. The church, like schools and other outfits around the nation, put the car on display. They added a sign that said, among other things, “Vote no.”

The crime is that the sign is in the NC DOT right-of-way. Presumably, the church could remedy the situation by moving the display back a few feet onto their own property. The sign is also too large for local ordinances. Some have suggested compressing it, but that would be like tampering with the evidence.

Further, the church is telling people how to vote on a specific proposal. The law is hazy, and certainly Black churches have a reputation for being hotbeds for Democrat rallies, but people who try to play by the rules don’t think churches can encourage any specific action, or any particular point of view, on specific pieces of legislation.

This, of course, flies in the face of free speech and freedom of religion, but they went out the window years ago. Perhaps the law could be satisfied if the church displayed an equal-time sign with all the blessed things that alcohol brings into peoples’ lives – like tattoos and Mardi Gras beads.

So, while people are shooting at each other and planners are generating legislation to infringe more and more on property rights, people in WNC continue to get into symbol wars. Last summer, a fireworks merchant was cited for flying American flags in inclement weather and allowing one to tip over and dust the top of the tent. The spin had the city looking un-American for enforcing national codes for flying the flag. Then, highway bloggers, who carry copies of the laws supporting their right to hold signs on interstate overpasses, are still not always able to convince officers that the police chief and a host of attorneys are aware of their actions and have given them the go-ahead. In another saga, Mark and Deborah Kuhn found themselves in jail after a struggle with the police officer who came to serve papers for their desecration of the American flag, a “statement” which turned out to be legal.