I hadn't realized how big of an issue this was. Now I see the news has been elevated to a national level. For the Christmas season, a nativity scene along with a holiday tree (or Christmas tree, I am not sure of the proper terminology) is decorating the Washington State Capitol. In 2006, a Menorah was displayed, although there is not one there this year. Now there is also a sign that supports an atheistic point of view. A statement from the Freedom from Religion Foundation is below.
Annie Laurie Gaylor, foundation co-president, said in a prepared statement that the sign is a reminder of the "real reason for the season, the winter solstice."
If celebration of the Winter Solstice was the true reason for the sign, I guess it would read "Happy Winter Solstice!" or something to that effect. It doesn't. In fact, this group went out of their way to offend Christians and anyone else that believes a higher power exists. The sign states:
"Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."
What's next? Maybe the atheists can run around Santa Claus in the shopping mall and tell all the kids that Santa isn't real. May as well spoil Christmas for everybody and make a clean sweep of it. What a bunch of unbelievable jerks.
I am going to go off on a tangent here because I found something interesting while I was looking for good info on this topic. This is a
link to a posting in NoGodBlog.com that went slightly off track. If you are a submariner, skim through the comments. Some of the comments got way off topic talking about Trident submarines and there is some humorous back-and-forth in there. Now I will get back on my topic. Sorry for the interruption.
Now, I am pretty liberal in my beliefs. However, to my way of thinking, this is an example of a minority group (atheists) out to ruin the enjoyment of the majority of people that enjoy the religious aspect of the holiday season. This is just a group of people that go out of their way to feel offended by others beliefs. I can't believe that any atheist has had their beliefs threatened by Christmas displays. Does an atheist walk by a Christmas Tree and spontaneously become a Christian? Of course not. They just want to piss all over people that are enjoying themselves.
If I were to walk up to somebody that happened to be Jewish, and I wished that person a Merry Christmas, I would expect them to take that in the spirit with which is intended. I doubt that they would be deeply offended by that.
Another
article in The Spokesman Review has parts of the Governor's response to complaints.
“The U.S. Supreme Court has been consistent and clear that, under the Constitution’s First Amendment, once government admits one religious display or viewpoint onto public property, it may not discriminate against the content of other displays, including the viewpoints of nonbelievers,” the statement said.
Ummm....Doesn't a sign that says "Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds." discriminate against the viewpoints of believers? How come those of us that believe in Christ can't be protected against this?
A huge telephone campaign has been started to harass Governor Christine Gregoire until she has the sign removed. Bill O'Reilly is leading the charge. It's pretty rare that I find myself agreeing with Bill-O. I guess I would be okay with a "Happy Winter Solstice" sign as long as it didn't attack religion. As it is, the current version of the sign is out of line. To give Bill-O his due, here is his rant against the atheist sign and his call to arms:
