Now a local citizen wants to put the issue to a vote of the people.

Local religious activist Martin Wishnatsky said today he has started an initiative petition to let voters decide whether the Ten Commandments monument should remain on the City Hall mall.

“I think the people in the city overwhelmingly favor keeping the monument where it is,” he said. “I think the City Commission majority is out of tune with the voters.”

Commissioners voted 3-2 Monday to move the monument off city property by donating it to a private entity.

I posted previously on this issue here.

I’m an atheist, but personally I don’t really have a problem with religious imagery on public property.  As long as people of all religion (and people of no religion at all) are treated equally under the law I couldn’t care less about some monument.  But seeing as how most people do care about whether or not a religiously-themed monument should be on public grounds I think a vote of the people is a perfect solution.

A solution that should be applied every time controversy over something like this pops up.  Elected political representatives should encourage such votes, if only to remove themselves from the middle of a sticky issue.

Better to just let the people decide.  If a majority of the taxpayers want the monument on the land they paid for, so be it.  If a majority don’t, ditto.

Sadly, far too many of the people who foment these controversies are more concerned with imposing their will on everyone else than solutions that please the largest number of people.  Which is the case with these unthinking “Freethinkers” who pushed to have this monument removed in the first place.