Fox News reports:

Until a few days ago, a war memorial in a public park in North Carolina included a metal sculpture depicting a soldier kneeling in prayer before a cross. But city officials voted to remove the sculpture to settle a lawsuit claiming the artwork promoted Christianity.

King, a small city of about 6,000 people 15 miles north of Winston-Salem, dedicated the memorial about a decade ago. But the statue was removed Tuesday night, immediately after The King city council voted 3-2 to end the lawsuit. Now, an empty hole can be seen where the statue once stood. . . .

As part of the agreement, the King city council also said it would stop flying the Christian flag over the memorial and would pay $500,000 to Americans United for Separation of Church and State for the legal costs the group incurred bringing the lawsuit on behalf of local Afghanistan War veteran Steven Hewett.

Comment: First, nothing in the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits the the city of King, N.C., from supporting artwork that exclusively promotes Christianity. The 1st Amendment explicitly tells Congress (and thus the federal government) that it "shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." Nor shall Congress prohibit the "free exercise thereof."

The people of King, N.C., are entirely within their constitutional rights to publicly and governmentally affirm their respect for and commitment to historic Christianity.

Second, the entire edifice of the American system of governance rests explicitly upon a real Creator who is the ultimate source of human rights ("unalienable rights"). That foundation is the way of life respected by the Declaration of Independence, which specifically and purposefully states that "all men are created equal" and "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights" and that "among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

The purpose of the U.S. Constitution is to fulfill this vision, to incarnate it in our politics, governance, and in our civil society. "To secure these rights," the Declaration states, "Governments are instituted among Men."

Those who reject this liberating stance are therefore embracing not liberty but instead non-liberty. And they do so against the defining mainstream of the American experiment, a mainstream rooted in the verifiable Creator who calls his people to live on the basis of truth across the whole of life, including public life and including political life.

Anti-Declaration extremists know full well what the people of King city "are about" and "what this community stands for." Anti-Declaration extremists know it and they despise it, which is why they roam throughout the land seeking to destroy it.

And they no doubt enjoy a pay day of $500,000, as well. What an outrage -- a free people being forced to fund the liquidation of their liberty.

These rejectors, these executioners of freedom in America, are the true extremists in our midst. 

Therefore, if you are looking for those who war against human freedom, human dignity, and the American mainstream, be sure to take a good look at radical activists and at radical organizations such as People United for the Separation of Church and State.

What they never could have created in the first place, they now seek to destroy.

But freedom shall not rest. What extremists destroy, lovers of freedom and dignity in community with God and man rise up to rebuild, protect, and defend.