Renewed Christmas Emphasis Countered by Some
Although there has been a concerted effort made this decade by a number of public interest law firms and conservative organizations to defend public displays related to the birth of Jesus, and to go after retailers who censor Christmas, a pair of atheist organizations launched their own counter campaigns during the just- ended holiday season.
The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation succeeded in having a controversial placard marking the Winter Solstice placed near a Nativity scene, a Christmas tree and a Menorah inside the Washington State Capitol in Olympia. It also began a billboard campaign in a number of cities, questioning religion and the celebration of Christmas by people of faith.
Likewise, the American Humanist Association sponsored a provocative holiday billboard campaign on public buses in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
Drawing the most criticism was the Winter Solstice sign in the Washington Capitol, which read,
"At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail.
There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell.
There is only our natural world.
Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."
The back of the sign read, "State/Church: Keep Them Separate."
Foundation Co-President, Annie Gaylor, said, "Our sign is a reminder of the real reason for the season, the Winter Solstice."
The Winter Solstice, the shortest and darkest day of the year, takes place on Dec. 21.
Gaylor added, "The Christians really stole ‘Christmas,' but we non-believers are willing to share it with them."
Likewise, the Foundation's other co-leader, Dan Barker, said, "We don't think religion–or irreligion–belongs in state capitols. But if a state is going to permit a Nativity display and create a public forum, then we want to be sure that the view of 16% of the U.S. population who is not religious are also represented. Christians don't own the month of December. Our members want equal time. Not to muscle, not to coerce, but just to have a place at the table."
In response to the criticism for allowing the display in the state Capitol, Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire and Attorney General Rob McKenna issued a joint statement that read, "After a federal lawsuit was filed against the state of Washington, the state's Department of General Administration set forth a policy allowing individuals or groups to sponsor a display regardless of that individual's or group's views. 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 non-believers."
One protest against the placard drew more than 500 people who gathered on the steps of the state Capitol. The demonstration was organized by Washington resident Steve Sanborn.
"Even Ebenezer Scrooge opted to leave Christmas alone. Why can't atheists be as generous as Scrooge at Christmas and leave it alone?
We live in a predominantly Christian nation, not an atheistic one. If it is equal time these people want, then perhaps they ought to erect their own stable with no one in it. This would actually reflect what they believe rather than attack those who believe otherwise.
For the state to assert that such a placard is somehow equal in the world of ideas merely shows its inability to be logical," Sanborn said.
Liberty Counsel, which launched its sixth annual Friend or Foe Christmas campaign, in which it pledges to be the "Friend" to those entities which do not censor Christmas, and a "Foe" to those that do, called Gregoire's position on the placard erroneous.
"While the Capitol also contains private displays of a 25-foot spruce Christmas tree, a Menorah and a Nativity scene, these symbols have several things in common that are missing from the anti-God rant of the Freedom From Religion sign. These are symbols, not attacks on other religions and their holidays.
The Freedom From Religion sign attacks those who believe in God, angels, Heaven or Hell. The group claims the sign is for the Winter Solstice, but that is a ridiculous assertion. The written message is not a symbol, and it celebrates nothing. It is a diatribe against people who believe in God and has no place with the other displays," Liberty Counsel stated.
As part of its annual Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign, Liberty Counsel published educational legal memoranda online at www.LC.org, to educate government officials, teachers, parents, students, private businesses, employees and others about public celebrations and displays of Christmas and other religious holidays.
Liberty Counsel's stance was echoed by Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
"The travesty in Washington State, with an atheist group's extremely hostile statement attacking religion in general, and Christianity in particular (under the ruse of honoring the Winter Solstice) -- in immediate proximity to the Christmas display, is both denigrating and disrespectful to the Christian faith. One does not honor pluralism by disrespecting other people's faiths in such hostile ways.
An appropriate symbol of the Winter Solstice (one can hardly imagine what that would be), placed in the public square to honor those who observe the Winter Solstice, does nothing to either denigrate or promote Christianity. The current display is hostile and disrespectful. In accommodating peoples' wish to have their faith acknowledged in the public square, one must understand that such displays must not attack other faiths," Land said.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation also had a "Reason's Greetings" billboard erected in downtown Olympia, and in Madison, Wisconsin, where it's based. The statement on the billboards is set against a stained-glass window background.
Similar billboards erected by the group in several states include "Beware of Dogma," and "Imagine No Religion."
In Chambersburg, PA, one Christian group responded to an "Imagine No Religion" billboard with a giant sign of their own asking, "Why do Atheists Hate America?"
In late November, the Foundation filed a lawsuit against the city of Rancho Cucamonga, Ca., after one of its "Imagine No Religion" billboards was removed less than a week into its two-month contract.
In response, Rancho Cucamonga Redevelopment Director Linda Daniels said they notified the billboard company that the city had received dozens of complaints regarding the sign. Daniels said, "We didn't say they had to (take it down), but they respected the concerns of residents."
In the nation's capital, the American Humanist Association launched a billboard campaign in mid-November to coincide with the holidays. The message, "Why believe in God? Just be good for goodness' sake," was plastered on 200 Metro system buses.
Association Executive Director Roy Speckhardt said, "It's clearly a message that a lot of people are ready to hear: that you don't need a god to be good. That's the point we're making with this advertising campaign. Morality doesn't come from religion. It's a set of values embraced by individuals and society based on empathy, fairness and experience."
Association spokesman, Fred Edwords, added, "Some folks may be offended, but that is not our purpose. We just want to reach those open to this message."
The billboard prompted JoEllen Murphy, a Catholic stay-at-home mother of four from McLean, Va., to launch a Metrobus counter ad campaign.
The ad shows an image from Michelangelo's "The Creation of Adam" on the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican. It reads, "Why believe? I created you and I love you, for goodness' sake–God." Two hundred of the ads appear behind bus drivers' seats.
Murphy told The Washington Examiner that she was opposed to the American Humanist Association ad, but never called Metro to complain.
"It's freedom of speech. The humanists are perfectly allowed to pay for the ad. Metro is allowed to accept it," Murphy said.
The counter-Christmas efforts aside, the economic downturn prompted a number of Americans to refocus on the true meaning of Christmas, a point underscored by Episcopal Priest Tom Ehrich, in a statement posted by Religion News Service.
Prior to Christmas, Ehrich opined, "In the faith community, values feel different. I doubt that setting aside large floral displays and costly pageants will make a big difference. It will be enough just to be together. The high point of Christmas worship, after all, isn't admiring the display, but kneeling together for ‘Silent Night.'
These are times for caution, not despair; for focusing on what matters, not feeling betrayed by a falling tide," Ehrich wrote.
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In Matthew 15:7-11, Jesus declared unto those that gave only an outward appearance as being religious, saying: "Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy (Isaiah 29) about you, saying:'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with [their] lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching [as] doctrines the commandments of men.' When He had called the multitude to [Himself], He said to them, "Hear and understand: not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man."
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