[Vision2020] Town abuzz over Stars and Bars

[Tom Hansen]

Greetings Visionaires -

It appears that the pro-Confederate movement has expanded from Moscow to
Post Falls judging by today's Spokesman Review

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Town abuzz over Stars and Bars
by Kathy Plonka

The Rev. Jon Dale Smith insists the flying of a Confederate flag at his Post
Falls home doesn't mean he's a racist.

Taryn Brodwater - Staff writer

The Rev. Doug Waltar wants to clear up a case of mistaken identity.

Ever since the Rev. Jon Dale Smith opened a church in Post Falls in
February -- and began airing his views on the pages of the community
newspaper -- people have confused Waltar's church with Smith's.

Both have Presbyterian in their name. Both are in Post Falls.

But only Waltar's church -- Community Presbyterian of Post Falls -- is
affiliated with the Presbyterian denomination. The church has been in town
since 1890 and has 145 members.

Smith's church -- Post Falls Presbyterian -- runs out of a strip mall and
has no affiliation. His congregation is small -- just his immediate family
and "a couple visitors."

Since his church opened in February, Smith has written letters to the
community newspaper comparing Abraham Lincoln to Adolf Hitler. His strong
religious views -- and the Confederate flag he's flying off the back deck of
his home -- have sparked controversy.

And confusion.

Some angry readers have shown up at Community Presbyterian -- or they have
phoned Waltar.

"That has been the biggest concern to me," Waltar said, "the understandable
name confusion."

Other Presbyterians in the area want to distance themselves from Smith and
his church, too.

"Our church -- Presbyterian Church in the USA -- has been in the region for
about 100 years," said the Rev. Mike Bullard of Coeur d'Alene's First
Presbyterian, choosing his words carefully. "We are involved with the
community, we care about the community and the people and we do our best to
serve."

Smith said his church is independent, but has "a plurality of elders that
makes it Presbyterian." He said the church is seeking affiliation --
possibly with a church in the Spokane Valley or one in Lyndon, Wash. -- but
wouldn't name either church.

The 52-year-old was most recently pastor at Sawgrass Presbyterian in Cooper
City, Fla. After two years of considering where to relocate, Smith said they
settled on North Idaho.

A self-proclaimed constitutionalist, Smith said he chose Idaho because a Web
site, FreeStateProject .com, listed it among the easiest for a group of
constitutionalists to move to and "take over."

"Ultimately, we want to form a government, Lord willing, that really will
protect us from tyrannical government," Smith said. "That's what we're here
for."

Heather Hoffmaster, Smith's neighbor, said that up until recently most of
his "discourse" had been through articles and letters in the newspaper.

Smith also is running radio spots that refer to Calvinism or
predestination -- and Smith's contempt for "the concept of free will."

Then Smith hung a Confederate flag and the Gadsden flag -- the one with a
snake and the words "Don't Tread on Me" -- off his back deck. The flags are
visible from one of the main roads through the Montrose neighborhood, and
the model home that prospective neighbors tour.

The Confederate flag upset Hoffmaster.

"This is a very divisive symbol no matter how he chooses to fly it," she
said. "It has a strong meaning here."

Though she acknowledges Smith's right to fly the flag, Hoffmaster said she
wishes he'd be considerate of the sensitivity of his neighbors and
community.

Neighbor Jeff Rachoy said the flag is in "poor taste."

Both Rachoy and Hoffmaster have hung American flags at their homes. They
hope it sends a more inclusive message.

"I really believe that if we fly all our American flags, that's going to let
people well enough know it's not a belief we share," Rachoy said.

Human rights activist and Realtor Marshall Mend said the Confederate flag
could drive prospective homeowners away from the new subdivision -- or the
entire community.

"I wouldn't want to take somebody into that neighborhood and show them
property," Mend said. "I'd feel uncomfortable doing that with that flag
there."

Whether the flags are good or bad for business, there's not much that can be
done, according to Jim Frank of the Greenstone Corp., developer of the
subdivision. He also manages the homeowners association.

"I don't necessarily agree with what he's saying," Frank said, "but I think
it's kind of a free speech issue. We can't interfere with people's right to
express whatever political position they might have."

Many people -- especially minorities -- consider the Confederate flag to
have racist connotations, Mend said.

"Whether that person is a racist or not, flying that flag he's perceived by
people as being a racist," Mend said.

Smith challenges the notion that the Confederate flag stands for racism.

"This flag, in a sense, is a protest against what has happened to our
Constitution," Smith said. He describes the South as the "last free
nation" -- a nation that was robbed by the North.

Smith is a graduate of Bob Jones University. The school only recently lifted
its ban on interracial dating.

"There is a separation of the races from a certain perspective that is not
necessarily bad," Smith said.

But he says he's not racist. In fact, he said he wants constitutionalist
Walter Williams -- an African American -- to be president.

"If I were a racist, I don't know what symbols I would use," Smith said.
"I'd maybe shave my head or something. That's not what I'm about."

The flag and letters, however, have sent a message that some neighbors find
worrisome, especially in a community trying to reverse a racist reputation.

"He says he's a pastor," Rachoy said. "It's just hard for me to read some of
the things he's said, when he says things like he doesn't care what anybody
thinks.

"That doesn't seem like a very good way to plant a church."

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I will research this further and keep you posted.

Until then . . .

Take care,

Tom Hansen
Not On The Palouse, Not Ever

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"When people sin, everybody has to pay."

- Pastor Douglas Wilson, Christ Church (June 7, 2002)

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