Fed Bank Regulators Force Oklahoma Bank to Remove Religious References

I spent about 18 years in the banking business and dealt with regulators on a number of occasions (including the guys who took over the bankrupt S&L I worked for in 1985).  I never had a regulator comment on religious issues, and certainly never had a run in with them like this small bank in Oklahoma:

A small-town bank in Oklahoma said the Federal Reserve won’t let it keep religious signs and symbols on display.

Federal Reserve examiners come every four years to make sure banks are complying with a long list of regulations. 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.

“I don’t think there should be a problem with them displaying whatever religious symbols they want to display,” said Amy Weierman, a Perkins resident.

Specifically, the feds believed, the symbols violated the discouragement clause of Regulation B of the bank regulations. According to the clause, "...the use of words, symbols, models and other forms of communication ... express, imply or suggest a discriminatory preference or policy of exclusion."

The feds interpret that to mean, for example, a Jew or Muslin or atheist may be offended and believe they may be discriminated against at this bank. It is an appearance of discrimination.

These regulators are taking this way too far. There is no right to have an account at a bank, nor is there a right not to be offended. If someone chooses to take offense to a daily Bible verse, they're welcome to bank somewhere else. Both the customers and the bank have the right to refuse to do business with each other. We turned down people all the time when it was determined they were risky prospects or their ID was questionable.  We even closed accounts for people who were too disagreeable to want to work with.

This is not proper enforcement of discrimination laws, but political correctness at its worst - the type that discriminates against Christianity because a non-Christian might be offended.