KOKO.Com in Oklahoma City reported this week on a bank that was being checked by the Federal Reserve to make sure it was meeting their requirments. Unfortunately, the interpretation of the requirements stepped over the line.
According to the article:
"The examiners came to Perkins last week. And the team from Kansas City deemed a Bible verse of the day, crosses on the teller's counter and buttons that say "Merry Christmas, God With Us." were inappropriate. The Bible verse of the day on the bank's Internet site also had to be taken down."
The examiners believed that the symbols and Bible verse were in violation of Regulation B, "...the use of words, symbols, models and other forms of communication ... express, imply or suggest a discriminatory preference or policy of exclusion."
Good grief! Have we become so paranoid about believing in anything that this is what the bank examiners were focused on? If you believe in diversity, you allow different expressions of belief--even if they are not the same as yours. Would a teller be allowed to wear a headscarf to comply with her religion or would that be seen as discriminatory?
It is the Christmas season. Christmas has been celebrated in America since before we were America. Christianity is the dominant religion of the country. That is simply a fact. Placing a Bible verse on the website was a choice of the bank. If people are offended by that, they can bank elsewhere. It seems to me that based on what has happened in banking over the past two years, the examiners have more to worry about than Bible verses or Christian symbols.
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