The lead story in last month’s Catalyst concerned the attempt by the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Pacific Southwest regional office to censor a remark by Theodore Roosevelt that was posted inside the Riverside County courthouse in Riverside, California. The ADL objected to a quote that read, “The true Christian is the true citizen.” It wanted the court to put a cover over the words during hours when the court was in session.
When we read that the ADL did not object to the entire 84-word passage from which the quote was taken, we offered to pay for the engraving of the whole quote. We wrote to the ADL, the presiding judge (a local lawyer sued to have the quote restored) and courthouse officials.
A courthouse official called us to say he was sympathetic with our position but that nothing could be done until the case was adjudicated. The judge wrote to us saying he could not entertain our proposal at this juncture. Not surprisingly, the ADL was the only party not to answer us. That’s because we called their bluff.
