← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Edana
Thread ID: 8591 | Posts: 1 | Started: 2003-07-30
2003-07-30 14:59 | User Profile
Opponent of cross used to hostility Longtime activist says this fight has turned 'white hot'
By John Scheibe, jscheibe@insidevc.com July 28, 2003
Stan Kohls learned early in life about the evils of hate.
In 1939, Kohls' parents, Herbert and Judith, were among the last Jews to escape Nazi Germany's death camps.
The narrow escape left Kohls with a deep sympathy and passion for helping those wronged by society, he said. It also led the 60-year-old Somis man into a life of activism that has put him into the thick of Ventura's Grant Park cross controversy.
He got involved early with the civil rights movement. He also helped organize one of Southern California's first protests against the Vietnam War in which demonstrators burned their draft cards.
Kohls received death threats from right-wing groups because of his political activism during that divisive, angry era.
Yet that hate of 30 years ago was not as startling to him as the "white-hot" hostility he's received over the past four months, he said.
"It really surprised me," Kohls said of the reaction after he demanded in late March that the city of Ventura divest itself of the landmark cross.
Kohls claims the 90-year-old cross violates the constitutional separation of church and state. He and two unnamed Ventura County residents are being represented by a San Francisco attorney who has threatened to sue the city if it holds on to the cross.
Kohls said he has received many telephone calls at home from enraged cross supporters. People have left many profanity-filled messages on his answering machine, and some have accused him of wanting the cross removed simply because he's a Jew, he said.
His name appeared on an anti-Semitic leaflet posted on the windshields of dozens of vehicles outside Ventura City Hall a month ago during a meeting held by supporters of the cross. The unsigned leaflet claimed, among other things, that the "real" Holocaust occurred not to Jews but to the millions of non-Jews who died under communism.
Brad Dacus, a Sacramento attorney who was the meeting's keynote speaker, denounced the leaflet as extremely distasteful and said the meeting organizers had nothing to do with it.
"We're trying to maintain a constructive atmosphere with the city," said Dacus, who wants the city to fight to keep the cross. "And material like that is very counter-productive and destructive to what we're trying to do."
Councilman Carl Morehouse said he also was extremely disturbed by the leaflet.
"The cross is a constitutional issue," Morehouse said during a recent City Council meeting. "It has nothing to do with any so-called conspiracy by any group or religion."
Kohls, however, defended the right of whomever distributed the leaflet to print such material. But, he said, the person should be forced to put his or her name on it.
"I think he should be required to do this so he can deal with the backlash of his beliefs, just like I'm having to deal with the backlash of my beliefs," Kohls said.
Kohls said his position on the cross has nothing to do with being a Jew. "I would be making such a demand whether or not I was Jewish," he said.
Instead, he said, it stems from his firm belief in the separation of church and state, which includes not using public funds to promote one religion over another. Kohls called the use of taxpayer dollars to maintain the cross "an outrageous lack of sensitivity on the part of the city toward non-Christians." Cross supporters, however, say it has great historical significance for Ventura.
Kohls, who calls himself an atheist, said it's ironic that much of the hate directed against him has come from those who profess to be Christians. "I just wonder what goes on in the minds of some of these people."
John Sherwood, who for 22 years led a synagogue in Woodland Hills and now heads two Ventura County interfaith ministerial associations, said anti-Semitic hate exists only among those who do not understand Christianity.
"Christianity does not preach anti-Semitism in any way, shape or form," Sherwood said.
Julie Saltoun, community director for the Anti-Defamation League's Tri-counties region, said bigots often use issues such as the Grant Park cross "for their own distorted views."
"We were kind of bracing for some of this, because we saw that the cross was an issue that might lead to incidents of anti-Semitism," Saltoun said.
Linda Dozer, an FBI agent in Ventura who tracks hate crimes, said her office was notified about the leaflet after copies of it were mailed to some residents.
Dozer said her office is monitoring the situation, but the printing and distribution of such leaflets is protected by the First Amendment right to free speech.
[url=http://www.insidevc.com/vcs/ve/article/0,1375,VCS_251_2140684,00.html]LINK[/url]