Guest Author
Christmas is a time for merriment, but thin-skinned atheists and secularists are making a mockery of what many hold sacred.
Just visit the state Capitol rotunda, which has been designated an open forum, and you’ll see this year’s version of the war against Christmas. By the way, the demonstration looks more like a spitting contest than a serious airing of ideas.
Never have so few caused so many to pay attention to so little for so long.
It would be inaccurate to say the Capitol rotunda is decorated with dueling holiday messages. What we have as the centerpiece is a meager Nativity scene — two Bible verses, one sheep, a baby, mother, father and an angel under a thatched roof manger.
Like sentries on guard against any violation of the rules requiring separation of church and state, two posters on easels try to convey a different message. Behind the nativity scene on the left is a message from the local atheists:
“Happy holidays from the Tallahassee Atheists. There are many reasons for the season, celebrate the one you choose.”
Somehow in trying to rebut the Christians’ message, the Tallahassee Atheists seem to be saying “you can take Christmas as long as you allow us to throw in everything else.”
On the other side of the Nativity scene was a poster from American Atheists urging visitors to “celebrate the true meaning of Xmas.”
Across the rotunda was a gift from the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
“Happy winter solstice,” it reads. “At this season of the Winter Solstice, we celebrate the Birth of the Unconquered Sun – the TRUE reason for the season. As Americans, let us also honor the birth of our Bill of Rights, which reminds us there can be no freedom of religion without having freedom from religion.”
Then, the demonstration that has caused the most stir: a Festivus pole — 16 paltry Pabst Blue Ribbon 13-ounce beer cans on a PVC pipe kept erect by pieces of board screwed together. The pole is almost invisible to the naked eye and confusing.
One elderly onlooker gazed at the Festivus pole in bewilderment. She saw the news about it, but she just didn’t get the meaning. Like many others, she skipped the “Seinfeld” show on which one of the characters proclaimed a secular festival “for the rest of us.”
The pole’s creator, blogger Chaz Stevens, told reporters he brought the Festivus pole to the Capitol to reinforce the separation of church and state. While Stevens’ motive is admirable, his gloating makes his actions suspect. He seems more narcissistic than serious.
“First Colbert, and now the Daily Show? Holy crap does it get any cooler than this?” he gushed on his blog. Reportedly the Satanists are trying to erect a display.
Open debate is a pillar of our democracy. The separation of church and state is vital to nurture that debate. However, there has been growing intolerance and militancy among the non-religious in the name of protecting our freedoms. They are no longer satisfied to stay home and watch television on Sunday while others worship. The very notion of religious observance seems to be an affront to them.
Freedom to practice religion is just as important as freedom from freedom. You can’t have one without the other.
