Seal of disapproval

When The Acorn reported on the changing of the seal of the county of Los Angeles, a vital part of that story was left out: how to participate in the ongoing petition (started by two county supervisors) to save and permanently preserve the original seal, saving the money needed to replace all instances of the seal and, in the future, change the seal only when the people of the county have voted to do so—therefore, I will cover this vital information, as I feel there are many people who do not know this information, but strongly desire to participate.

First off, some people may feel the original seal did indeed promote Christianity with no apparent reason otherwise. In fact, this is false and incorrect. The cross stood for the Christian and Catholic Mexicans that explored and once owned the L.A. basin in the early days, as well as the missions they built. The goddess of nuts and fruits, goddess Pomona, stood for the farming and agriculture that the basin and San Fernando Valley was once filled with. Clearly, neither of the symbols promoted Christianity in a biased or entertaining way, but rather honored the history of the Los Angeles area.

The petition continues until March 1, 2005. Only registered voters of Los Angeles County can sign the petition; however, anyone can spread the idea. Petitions may be printed from: www.ourfirst amendment.org or picked up in over 400 locations throughout the county. The petition includes instructions on how to fill it out, and where to mail it, as well as contacts for further help. No sensitive information is needed for the petition beyond your name, signature and address as given when you registered to vote. To pass the petition, 341,212 valid signatures are needed, so tell your friends, neighbors, family, coworkers, teachers, organizations and churches to pass this ordinance to save the original seal that honored history and culture, not the promotion of Christianity for enjoyment as ACLU wrongly accuses the county of. Don’t let New York-based ACLU rip the seal away.

Ian Agar

Agoura