Thursday, December 9, 2010

Let it go, people


It seems to me that way too much is being made of the relocation of a manger scene from the borough building in Canonsburg. As most know by now, the borough manager got a complaint about the religious display on public property. He asked the Knights of Columbus to move their manger to another location, and a business down the street from the borough building was kind enough to play host. From the community's over-reaction, one would have thought that somebody had burned the baby Jesus in effigy. Folks, get a grip. Number one, the religious display had no business being on public property in the first place. Number two, it's still standing, a few doors down from the borough building. Everyone in Canonsburg, if they wish, can erect their own nativity scene on their own front lawns. There can be 20 on every block. But legally, there shouldn't be one on borough property, and borough leaders were wise to avoid an expensive court battle that they assuredly would have lost. I'm a non-believer. Would I have made a stink about the manger scene in front of the borough building? No. I don't think having a nativity scene there put us on the slippery slope toward the borough enacting mandatory Catholic church attendance. In fact, I greatly enjoy the Christmas season. I like the music, the good food, the gatherings with family and friends. On occasion, I've even attended the beautiful Christmas Eve service at my wife's church. Heck, there's a manger scene and a tree decorated with angels and such in my living room. I just don't happen to believe the story behind all the seasonal festivities. At the same time, I don't feel like less of an atheist because I embrace the joys of the Christmas season. But I will say that I'm sick and tired of hearing the crap about the "war on Christmas." There's no danger of Christmas falling by the wayside because a few people assert their rights under the law or because some stores and other entities recognize that, hey, there are some other religions that are equally deserving of respect. This is a nation where all belief systems, no matter how crazy, should be afforded the exact same level of acceptance. Christians are no more worthy of respect and should be given no more say in how our country is run than Muslims. Your selection of which deity to worship affords you no special rights. And as an atheist, I'd like to state, with absolute certainty, that non-Christians have a much better chance of being victimized by a cultural war waged by Christians than vice versa. So if you don't mind, quit whining and enjoy this wonderful time of the year.

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3 Comments:

Blogger Lori said...

You make a good point.

December 13, 2010 at 10:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm glad to see they're moving it back.
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ, it would be nice if folks realized the true meaning of Chritmas, without all the buying frenzy and chaos.

December 15, 2010 at 10:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Christmas may celebrate the birth of Christ, but there was also a religious celebration earlier in the month that no one lit a candle to on government property - Hannukah. Would anyone have complained if Canonsburg had set up a menorrah outside the borough building? Would someone complain if Canonsburg set up a giant harvest display in honor of Kwanzaa? Does a Christmas tree on govermnent property mean the giovernment is sponsoring pagans?

It's true that these days we are all too touchy in America about perceived "liberties" being taken away from us. Yet, rather than celebrate the re-relocation of the creche to the borough building as a victory for Christians, would we not do better to reflect on the fact that America is not an exclusively Christian nation. If we allow Christmas creches on goverment properties, we should also allow symbols of Ramadan, Hannukah, Passover and the religious holidays of every other culture. Including atheists, althoughI admit it would be hard to come up with a symbol for no god.

America is supposed to be a land of freedom for all. Do we want to go back to the time when "all" included only white Chrsitians?

December 15, 2010 at 3:54 PM  

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