December 23, 2007

Fretting about the crèche.

Part 1: "'Your people shall be my people and your God my God.' I meant those words when I spoke them. I don't have to believe in the same God as my husband for these words to be true. I don't have to believe in God at all."

Part 2: "Tell him to take us to court to get it out of there. As far as I'm concerned, they can leave it there." "I take any such display to violate the separation of church and state, a concept which I hold dear." "This is very ironic, because much of Sauk County was settled by non-religious people."

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

What ever happened to liberal tolerance and reasonable accomodation?

Litigating only seems to make matters worse. Nationwide something like 85% of our fellow citizens profess some sort of Christianity. My guess is that a much higher percentage celebrate Christmas and enjoy the traditions.

Why can't we grant our friends and neighbors a little space to enjoy the things that they prize?

It's just a creche for crissakes. My sense is that more than a few of the protesters hiding behind the First Amendment are, in fact, merely mean spirited assholes.

Anonymous said...

Don't we have something like 85% white people in the US? How about a good, old-fashioned Negro lawn jockey on the front steps of the courthouse?

Chip Ahoy said...

Lawn jockeys are cool.

John Burgess said...

Sure, and lawn jockeys now come in a variety of ethnic flavors! Equal opportunity, low-grade offense available to all the kewl kidz!

Thicker skins would serve us all.

Unknown said...

Equating a creche with a lawn jockey is probably the most ignorant and racist thing I've ever read.

rcocean said...

Why we've given these atheistic cranks to waste everyone's time on Trivial matters like a Christmas display is beyond me.

Why don't these people find something constructive to do with their lives?

Anonymous said...

Greg:

"Equating a creche with a lawn jockey is probably the most ignorant and racist thing I've ever read."

You need to get out more, buddy.

dick said...

The one that got me was the small city in New Jersey that let them put up a Menorah but took them to court when they tried to put up a creche.

Chip Ahoy said...

I've found, and it's reaffirmed here, people who snap "racism" the fastest and the loudest, and most persistently, in finding racism in places,= where it doesn't exist, are by their observable behavior the most racist of all.

Richard Fagin said...

They just need to add my electric menorah with the green, white and red light bulbs.

Unknown said...

I wish Virgil would come to our town and be our mayor. We still have a "holiday" tree and a "winter" festival.

Unknown said...

I don't need to get out more, your brain needs to get used more, seems a little rusty. How is the creche a symbol of rascism?

former law student said...

We preach diversity, tolerance, and understanding, yet some old cranks want religion suppressed in the public square. The birth of the Christ child means something to a broad cross-section of Americans: hope, faith, and love. Do their feelings mean nothing? Allowing every religion to have a turn at putting up a courthouse display seems fair to me, yet will not mollify those whose faith is defined by an absence of faith. Why don't they just squinch up their eyes and stick their fingers in their ears when they go by, singing "la-la-la-la-la-la"?

Can I have a cross over my grave in a public cemetery? What about veterans' cemeteries, with rows upon rows of crosses? Would an atheist be satisfied by being buried beneath a question mark?

Anonymous said...

Would an atheist be satisfied by being buried beneath a question mark?

Well, no. That would be an agnostic.

Sorry to rain on your homespun crackerbarrel philosophy.

Ann Althouse said...

In Brooklyn, there's a huge menorah in the square in front of the courthouse and a very loudly amplified ceremony each night at 5, including prayers. All the commuters are subjected to it. I find it quite unaesthetic (because it's so obtrusive), but it doesn't make me think the government in putting on the show.

In the case of the Sauk Prairie creche, the county seems to have an open system where anyone can apply to put up a display. If that is the situation, then they can't discriminate against religion.

Mr. Forward said...

I don't think you bury atheists. I think you just set them out on the curb for recycling.

former law student said...

Sorry to rain on your homespun crackerbarrel philosophy.

'it is easy to criticize . . . it is easy to find fault . . . but what trees do you plant . . . where are your ideas . . .?' -- King Richard I of Chicago.

Synova said...

There was a sign up in a local community center that no religious activities could occur there.

It was right under the no smoking sign and above the no alcoholic beverages sign.

I was offended. The people paying taxes that built the building come from all sorts of different religious backgrounds yet not a single one of them could express their faith in that place. Why couldn't a community group who rented or reserved the hall express whatever they wanted to express? Open with a prayer... to whoever they wanted to pray to. Have a wedding or any other party. Have choir practice or rehearsals for a drama.

I personally doubt that the ban would hold up if it were challenged but who's going to challenge it?

I wonder how often the community center sits empty.