Warning: Civil religious symbols robbed of evangelical force

Regarding the Supreme Court decision about the Sunrise Rock Cross in the Mojave Preserve memorial to those killed in World War I, University of Missouri professor of law and religious liberty expert Carl H. Esbeck cautioned:

I’m not a big fan of religious symbols on government property. I believe there is a detriment because it dilutes the real purpose of the symbol. They’ve taken a symbol of the church and turned it into civil religion. This can be bad for evangelicals because when people look at a nativity scene or a Roman cross, we want people to think of the God of the Bible. If these too become simply civil religion to Americans, it makes the task of evangelism harder for Christians.

Change Arkansas' Constitution?

Don Byrd blogging for The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty reports:

Believe it or not, a few states still have constitutional provisions disallowing atheists from holding office, completely - of course, at odds with the US Constitution's guarantee that there can be no religious test. An effort is under way in Arkansas to do something about it.