MARK SCHUMANN
Indian River County Commissioners Bob Solari and Tim Zorc refused to sign the proclamation issued last Tuesday by the Indian River County Commission for Humanist Recognition week. Following the dust storm caused by Carroll’s and Fletcher’s remarks made at the City Council meeting the previous week, Solari and Zorc chose to express their dissent in silence.
Solari explained that he was comfortable signing the Christian Heritage Week proclamation because it simply acknowledged a historical reality, that many of the nation’s founders were Christians. Solari said he declined to sign the Humanist Recognition Week proclamation, not for religious or philosophical reasons, but solely because he is opposed to issuing proclamations that recognize, promote, honor, or sanction the current, and/or ongoing work of a religious or sectarian group.
Yet, the Christian Heritage Week proclamation also included the following: “in recognition of the American Family Association’s contribution to the quality of life in Indian River County.” Is that not recognition of the current and ongoing work of a religious or sectarian group?
Commissioner Zorc has declined over five days to reply to my email or return phone calls.
Intolerance is still intolerance, even if it is expressed through silence.
Indian River Guardian 
Messrs. Solari and Zorc are in need of a history lesson. Many historians are of the belief that our Founding Father and author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, was a humanist. I suggest that they now read the March/April 2012 edition of the Humanist magazine.
Whatever else Thomas Jefferson was, he was not a Christian, at least not a Christian who believed in the resurrection of Jesus. See: “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth.” This little book is Mr. Jefferson’s version of the gospels, from which he excludes all references to miracles Jesus.
All 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were listed as Christian. Thomas Jefferson was one of two listed officially an Episcopalian (Diest). The category of “Deism” is too generalized to flatly state that any specific Diest is an athiest or Humanist, most especially from that era. According to some of Jefferson’s writings, he believed in God and studied the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Several people have wondered why the PJ did not really report on this, giving Solari and Zorc a pass and even letting Carrol and Fletcher off the hook so easily. thank you Mark, and you are correct about Jefferson, as well as other founding fathers.
Even if there were irrefutable historical evidence establishing that all the signers of the Declaration of Independence and all the framers of the Constitution were devout Christians, the point would be hugely irrelevant to the current debate. In their wisdom, the founding fathers bequeathed to use a Constitution that guarantees the free exercise of all religions. It is puzzling to me why 21st Century Americans are less tolerant that were the 18th Century patriots who laid the foundations for the liberties we enjoy today. Again, ee could debate how many of the founding fathers were Christians, and we could even explore what it means to be a Christian, but in as much as the Constitution gives no preference to any one religion, proving how many of the founding fatehrs were Christians is beside the point.
We should ask Zorc and Solari if they want to take God out of the pledge. Hmmm.