Christmas Displays Anything But Christian
December 15th, 2014 by Mike VasilindaTis the season to be celebrating, but for the second year in a row, a nativity scene has sparked an array of non christian displays in the rotunda of the State Capitol, and coming soon is a display officials called “grossly offensive” last year.
With children from a religious school singing within earshot of the Governor’s office, Pam Olson of the Florida Prayer network says it is time to put Christ back in Christmas.
“And his love is the answer.”
Q: “to violence”
“To everything. To Violence in our world, to the shootings” says Olson.
This is the second year baby Jesus and the nativity scene were displayed, allowed under rules that declare the Capitol Rotunda a public forum.
So for the second year, Chaz Stevens, a Deerfield beach software developer has created a “Festivus Pole” denoting a fictional holiday from the TV sitcom Seinfeld. “There’s a manger over there right? We’re in a government building. Kinda crazy isn’t it. Why do we have a manger in a government building?”
The 14 stacked beer cans replace a display from the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and a banner from the Freedom from Religion Committee.
Gary Whittenberger from Freedom From Religion says their display was all about “Separation of church and state. That’s what we support.”
Each display is allowed a week. Coming next week, a second manger scene. And this, a display from the Satanic temple.
Last year the state said no to the Satanic display, calling it “grossly offensive” John Porgal is a member of the Satanic Temple of Florida and says their organizer “was refused this year as well, and when he presented lawyers, they decided to change their mind.”
So in the end, each of the displays has it’s own ways of saying
Children singing “:We wish you a merry christmas and a Happy New Year”.
The American Civil Liberties Union says that when government allows one group to speak, it must allow all groups to speak, not matter how much it does not like their message.
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