December 18, 2007

This should be good

Mayor Jim Schmitt said ... no further displays would be put up until the City Council debates the guidelines he drew up with City Attorney Allison Swanson, the Green Bay Press-Gazette reported Tuesday.

The guidelines include provisions limiting religious displays to the month of December and requiring them to contain legitimate religious symbolism.
No word yet on who gets to decide that. Or on the novel (and ancient) questions raised by a government religious requirement.

The Christmas brouhaha in Green Bay gets sillier by the moment, and Schmitt has banned all seasonal decorations — save for the Nativity scene — until the city can decide on a policy. Schmitt declared a decoration moratorium after some character climbed the City Hall roof, dragged down a five-pointed star and threw it in a hedge.

Now, according to the sidebar in this item, it turns out City Council President Chad Fradette only uploaded his crèche onto the roof to slap at the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which is apparently challenging another Nativity set-up in nearby Peshtigo.

Well, at least Fradette had a secular purpose.

If these clowns keep this up, Nativity scenes will be the least of their concerns, because if Green Bay voters can find one more thief, the lot of them will be installed in a Good Friday diorama at the earliest available opportunity.

Another take, from here:
It never ceases to amaze me that a small minority of Christians who clearly feel threatened by the concept of religious pluralism feel the need every holiday season to wage this pointless battle. They aren't putting their Nativity scenes up in public spaces to celebrate their faith. They're doing it to pick a fight with those whose beliefs are in the minority. It's nothing other than faith-based bullying.
I don't know if I'd go that far, at least under the present circumstances, although it sure as hell is tempting. And Chad Fradette certainly seems to be copping to the antagonism stance.

2 comments:

capper said...

Must be an election year.

Anonymous said...

"...if Green Bay voters can find one more thief, the lot of them will be installed in a Good Friday diorama at the earliest available opportunity."

roflcopter!