Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Indiana Town Fights Atheists on Nativity Scene: ‘They Can Look The Other Way’

Atheists are demanding Brookville, Indiana governing authorities tear down a nativity display that’s near the Franklin County Courthouse — where it’s been placed every Christmas for nearly five decades — but the townspeople are fighting back, saying simply if you don’t like it, don’t look.

Local commissioners, meanwhile, are largely ignoring the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s threat to sue.

This is the fourth year in a row that the atheist group has threatened to sue the town over its nativity scene, which is owned by the town, the Christian Post reported. The group’s argument is that it’s “unlawful for a government body to maintain, erect or host a holiday display that consists solely of a nativity scene, thus singling out, showing preference for and endorsing religion,” The Blaze reported.

But the town government has refused to back down. And local residents don’t seem appreciative of the atheists’ intrusion.

More

6 comments:

Jim in Liberty said...

"..UNLAWFUL for a government body to maintain, erect or host a holiday display that consists solely of a nativity scene.."
Exactly what "law" is this against?
There is no such law.
These militant atheists are BULLIES.
I live near this town and we already dealt with these jerks once.
We're not having anymore of this in the Land of the Free.
Enough is enough.

Anonymous said...

Athiests are protected by the Constitution,but for some reason they don't think the rest of us should be.

Anonymous said...

Good! About time somebody stood up to all this crap!

Anonymous said...

Let's look at what the first amendment to the Constitution actually says:

"CONGRESS shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech..."

No one (certainly not Congress) is making a law establishing a religion by putting up a nativity scene. There does seem to be some abridgment of the freedom of speech of private individuals, however, as well
as an attempt to prohibit the free exercise of religion.
Note that "separation of church and state" doesn't appear in the
quote above, nor anywhere else in the Constitution. It was a statement made by Thomas Jefferson in a letter to the Danbury Baptists in 1802:

"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building
a wall of separation between church and State."

He wanted to comfort them and underscore that the government was prohibited from interfering in their religious lives.

"The metaphor of a wall of separation is bad history and worse law. It has made a positive chaos out of court rulings. It should be explicitly abandoned."
--Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist

NOWHERE does the Constitution give atheists a veto over religious expression in the US.

Anonymous said...

Religious folks are nuts, but atheist take the blue ribbon. They are against exactly what they do. Neckbeard, fidora wearing burning sticks.

Anonymous said...

Good for this town---It's time
people stood up for their beliefs
& rights!