After a city council decided to remove an offensive Veterans Memorial, indignant citizens rallied together to make their voices heard. As the government grows more powerful, elected officials often forget that they are public servants of the people.
Their political agendas sometimes surface, and they begin to legislate their own interests, often against the people’s wishes. This was exactly what the city council of a small Iowa town did concerning a religious Veterans Memorial. However, the voters were about to remind them who they work for.
For the Knoxville city council, the first item of business for the week was contemplating a memorial for fallen soldiers. It received one complaint from an offended atheist due to its religious connotation. The display featured an armed soldier kneeling at a cross, symbolizing a headstone for a fallen comrade.
The council decided to vote on the supposedly controversial memorial and, catering to the vocal minority, voted 3-2 to remove the display, citing the excuse that it must come down if it possibly hurt someone’s feelings.
Just 24 hours later, the officials who voted to take down the memorial realized they had made a terrible mistake. According to Breitbart, the day after they chose to remove the Veterans Memorial, angry citizens rallied together and voted out the three council members who supported eliminating the display.
April Verwers and Carolyn Formanek were voted out of office, neither receiving more than 15% of the votes. Meanwhile, David Rooseboom chose to forego re-election, admitting he knew he would be removed anyway.
The citizens of Knoxville were clear in their reason for getting rid of the three council members. Incensed townsfolk directly pointed to the officials’ decision to ban the display for its alleged offensive meaning. According to posts on the “Stop the Insanity” Facebook page, “Last night was a huge victory.
We showed this council that if you ignore the people, we won’t support you. Now the real work begins. The current council is still in office until January 1st. I hope they got our message, but they clearly did not. However, when the new council takes over, we can and will request to put it back.”
Despite the council’s confession to removing the memorial based on the complaint of a single citizen and pressure from the anti-Christian group Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the citizens were not about to let the threat take away their right to endorse such a monument. Many expressed that the city should not bow to the minority over the majority.
Resident Doug Goff was ecstatic over Tuesday’s turnout, stating, “I was extremely emotional because this cause is very dear to me, and I felt like I have let people down. I’d like to send a message that if you’re not going to listen to Knoxville, Knoxville’s not going to back you.”
In addition to voting out the defiant council members, the town gathered to erect 2,000 small white crosses, which were placed in yards to defend the memorial and support US veterans. Residents also gathered by the hundreds to show their defiance during a rally in favor of a permanent monument in the park.
The citizens kept their vow to take action, showing the country how it should deal with elected officials who no longer represent the will of the people. Incredibly, they managed to unite for a common purpose. The residents also proved that they would not be overrun by the minority, no matter how vocal or aggressive they become. Surely, the city’s new council members have taken note of this and will legislate accordingly.
