The city fathers thought it a good thing to fly, not just the U.S. flag and the Alabama state flag, but also the Christian flag over the town's police station.
Well, yeah, there might be a few non-Christians in town, but who cares. They have to understand this here's a Christian nation, and if they don't like it, they can move elsewhere!
Except that is bullshit. The U.S. is not a "Christian" nation and never was, in spite of the fact that a lot of so-called Christians live within its borders.
Furthermore, the so-called "Christian" flag is a relatively recent invention. It was first conceived on Long Island, New York, in 1897 and spread out from there. Now, while many denominations use the flag, it really has very little meaning. I'll bet that 99% of Christians could not even describe it correctly.
Today, many churches have both the U.S. flag and the Christian flag placed usually in the front of the building or on the chancel/altar area. I can understand the Christian flag but why the U.S. flag? Their message is that God loves all people equally; that Jesus went to the cross so that ALL people all over the world could be saved through faith in him. God's love is not limited to people in the United States. That's the message they preach.
Of course they don't believe that. They just mouth the words. We see that hypocrisy every day in every way in every community in this country. And because they don't believe their own mission is precisely the reason they put the US flag in their churches; it's as if their lack of faith can be covered up by flying the country's flag.
But the US flag has no place in a Christian church. The only flag that should be flying in the chancel of a Christian church is the Christian flag and even that makes very little sense.
I've always thought the Christian flag was kind of a joke. Why do Christians need their own flag? Are they marching to Pretoria, or to Jerusalem, or to Chicago? Do they need a banner of their own to which they can pledge their allegiance. Isn't their pledge of allegiance to their Christ enough?
What happened in Glencoe, is that the atheist organization, Freedom from Religion, threatened to file suit arguing that the Christian flag does not belong on a city police station. The town fathers caved rather quickly because, they said, they didn't have the money to defend themselves in a lawsuit.
In that regard they were smart. They doubtless realized they would lose. The law is against them, the Constitution is against them. And even if the good Christians of Glencoe came out in droves to protest this attack against their religion, their protests are to no avail. Sorry, Charlie, but you can put the Christian flag in your homes, in your churches, in your vehicles, in your bathrooms, but it is not to wave over your city police station!
And why do Christians do these stupid things? Are they so unsure of their faith they have to fly a flag to prove they really believe? Do they think God's gonna get 'em if they don't have the Christian flag flying over their police station? Do they want to offend non-believers, the people they are supposed to be loving in order to win them for Jesus?
None of it makes much sense to me.
You can read more about the origins and development of the Christian flag here.