Here is a seasonal issue that seems to come up every year; the Nativity Scene on public property (City Hall).
We have a small community around Detroit named Berkley. It is kind of middle class and old but a tight knit community or so we thought.
A few years back someone challenged the constitutionality of having a nativity scene on public property and the city council voted to gift the nativity scene to a church organization which agreed to display it at a local Methodist church a small distance from the city hall location. They avoided a legal battle and they preserved the displaying of the Nativity scene in their town – case closed – well done!
Well not quite! A group of rabid Christians would not stand for that. They wanted to change their town charter to allow the display of the Nativity scene on city property and they placed that issue on the ballot for the November 6 local elections.
Our local papers have been filled with angry pro or con letters. A guy I work with lives in the community and is opposed to the charter change and has provided some interesting discussion on the subject. He said that residents of Berkley have divided over the issue and started displaying lawn banners attacking each other – nice!
This local issue is just a microcosm of a larger national issue over the same matter; are we a Christian nation or not.
I have talked about this issue at length in previous blogs but as far as our Constitution is concerned there should be no question; the first amendment prohibits our government from endorsing ANY religion and placing specifically and exclusively a Christian Nativity scene on government property is for all intents and purposes, endorsing one religion over all the others – ILLEGAL!
Our courts should rule on this with one voice and not quibble about it. Once these Christians see that there could be wiggle room, they will challenge the law and this cannot be allowed.
We can on the other hand discuss this matter on a social level all we want to as long as government property is FREE of religious symbols.
I am happy to see a strong contingent of social liberals in Berkley and I thing the matter will be defeated and a strong message sent; you can celebrate religious aspects of Christmas any way you want just not on government property – kapish?
I will close by reminding people that the season of Christmas was originally and still is a PAGAN holiday where the end of one year and the beginning of a new year is celebrated. The arrogant Christians could not stand the fun being had and injected the celebration of the birth of their god into the already in place joyous season.
The Christians have no idea when Jesus was born or for that matter, where he was born; Bethlehem was an attempt by the Gospel writers to put Jesus into a prophecy that the next Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. Historians tell us that it was probably (99.9% sure) Nazareth.
So celebrate the season anyway you want just don’t make it all about YOUR way of celebrating and don’t try to make it the OFFICIAL, NATIONAL AMERICAN way of celebrating the season!!!
We have a small community around Detroit named Berkley. It is kind of middle class and old but a tight knit community or so we thought.
A few years back someone challenged the constitutionality of having a nativity scene on public property and the city council voted to gift the nativity scene to a church organization which agreed to display it at a local Methodist church a small distance from the city hall location. They avoided a legal battle and they preserved the displaying of the Nativity scene in their town – case closed – well done!
Well not quite! A group of rabid Christians would not stand for that. They wanted to change their town charter to allow the display of the Nativity scene on city property and they placed that issue on the ballot for the November 6 local elections.
Our local papers have been filled with angry pro or con letters. A guy I work with lives in the community and is opposed to the charter change and has provided some interesting discussion on the subject. He said that residents of Berkley have divided over the issue and started displaying lawn banners attacking each other – nice!
This local issue is just a microcosm of a larger national issue over the same matter; are we a Christian nation or not.
I have talked about this issue at length in previous blogs but as far as our Constitution is concerned there should be no question; the first amendment prohibits our government from endorsing ANY religion and placing specifically and exclusively a Christian Nativity scene on government property is for all intents and purposes, endorsing one religion over all the others – ILLEGAL!
Our courts should rule on this with one voice and not quibble about it. Once these Christians see that there could be wiggle room, they will challenge the law and this cannot be allowed.
We can on the other hand discuss this matter on a social level all we want to as long as government property is FREE of religious symbols.
I am happy to see a strong contingent of social liberals in Berkley and I thing the matter will be defeated and a strong message sent; you can celebrate religious aspects of Christmas any way you want just not on government property – kapish?
I will close by reminding people that the season of Christmas was originally and still is a PAGAN holiday where the end of one year and the beginning of a new year is celebrated. The arrogant Christians could not stand the fun being had and injected the celebration of the birth of their god into the already in place joyous season.
The Christians have no idea when Jesus was born or for that matter, where he was born; Bethlehem was an attempt by the Gospel writers to put Jesus into a prophecy that the next Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. Historians tell us that it was probably (99.9% sure) Nazareth.
So celebrate the season anyway you want just don’t make it all about YOUR way of celebrating and don’t try to make it the OFFICIAL, NATIONAL AMERICAN way of celebrating the season!!!
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