petition in favor of banning nativity

[mirmartinez]

I young man came by yesterday wanting me to sign a petition to ban our town's nativity display.
I asked the young man to let me think about it.
When he came back this morning I signed it.
I decided that even though I am a christian.
There is a church one block down, I figured the nativity can be moved there.

( I do not believe he will get enough signatures, started kinda late if you ask me. )

 

[Kath2003]

I think the problem is you cannot honour everyone's beliefs, and if you can't do that, you shouldn't do it publicly (i.e. using the town's money/resources). There are plenty of centres of all faiths where these things can be displayed. There are also plenty of ways of honouring a festival without religious images (e.g. most places do Diwali, because it's easy and beautiful).

 

[burberryplaid]

Just out of curiosity, why do you agree with this? Simply because there are already enough Nativity scenes around because there are churches around? Do you oppose public money being used to pay workers to put up the display? Don't you think the town has the right to put up any decorations they want? I am just wondering why a Christian, as you say you are, would oppose a display that celebrates the true meaning of Christmas.

 

[John Smith1]

I young man came by yesterday wanting me to sign a petition to ban our town's nativity display.
I asked the young man to let me think about it.
When he came back this morning I signed it.
I decided that even though I am a christian.
There is a church one block down, I figured the nativity can be moved there.

( I do not believe he will get enough signatures, started kinda late if you ask me. )

You should've asked him if he had anything better to do with his time.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

OP, thank you.

 

[Mickeyistheman]

I misread that it was for your Town's Nativity Display. I thought it was for each home.

 

[chrisw127]

Just out of curiosity, why do you agree with this? Simply because there are already enough Nativity scenes around because there are churches around? Do you oppose public money being used to pay workers to put up the display? Don't you think the town has the right to put up any decorations they want? I am just wondering why a Christian, as you say you are, would oppose a display that celebrates the true meaning of Christmas.

You didn't ask me, but I'll tell you that while I do believe in God, I strongly believe in a separation of church and state, even at the most basic level. Religious symbols should not be on government property, period, and the state should not pay to have them put up.

While it doesn't bother me, not everyone is a Christian and not everyone is comfortable with that kind of imagery. A few years ago I had a secretary who recorded the message for the law firm voice mail which ended with "Have a blessed day." Now, to me personally, this isn't an offensive message, but I told her to take it off, that not all of our clients were comfortable with that and that we were funded by the state and it wasn't appropriate. It also thought sounded unprofessional. She did not understand this in the least and was very put out by it, but she did change it.

There are just some places where religion is appropriate and others where it is not.

 

[ilisao]

Just out of curiosity, why do you agree with this? Simply because there are already enough Nativity scenes around because there are churches around? Do you oppose public money being used to pay workers to put up the display? Don't you think the town has the right to put up any decorations they want? I am just wondering why a Christian, as you say you are, would oppose a display that celebrates the true meaning of Christmas.

I would sign such a petition in an heartbeat. I have no problem with a Nativity on private property. you want one on your lawn? Have at it. A chruch? Of course I expect it there. However, a government entity has no business with a religious display. Of all the symbols of the holiday, a Nativity is purely religious, plain and simple.

I firmly believe in the separation of church and state and believe a Nativity sponsored by a government completely crosses the line.

FTR, I am not Christian. But, perhaps Christians who oppose it are also firm believers in the separation of church and state and understand that the true meaning of Christmas can be observed in many other ways.

 

[SwedishMeatball]

I thought we were supposed to be moving towards a more inclusive society.

 

[Planogirl]

I am not religious but I think that a nativity is such a minor thing. I personally think that they're pretty and harmless and I wish that people who work so hard to get rid of such things would apply that energy to real problems.

Just my thoughts.

 

[EthansMom]

I don't have a problem with a Town Christmas display that is non-denominational... for instance, a cutout Santa, Christmas tree, and/or light-up reindeer. I do think it's inappropriate to use public funds to erect a Nativity on town-owned land.

 

[John Smith1]

Okay, I want to understand something.

So people want to celebrate Christmas (gifts and stuff) but who cares about WHY it's celebrated? Isn't the nativity a depiction of the reason we celebrate it in the first place???

Okay, I guess we should just call it SOMETHINGmas!

 

[Goofyluver]

If he were in my town, I would have signed the petition as well.

There's a little ol' thing called separation of church and state. I do not think any city government has the right to display religious symbols of any kind.

 

[SwedishMeatball]

Okay, I want to understand something.

So people want to celebrate Christmas (gifts and stuff) but who cares about WHY it's celebrated? Isn't the nativity a depiction of the reason we celebrate it in the first place???

Okay, I guess we should just call it SOMETHINGmas!

I don't think their issue is with the nativity, but rather it being displayed on government property.

 

[OrlandoMike]

So people want to celebrate Christmas (gifts and stuff) but who cares about WHY it's celebrated?

Christmas has very little to do with the birth of Christ these days....

When did shopping yourself into debt become a religious act?

 

[Parkers_girl]

Okay, I want to understand something.

So people want to celebrate Christmas (gifts and stuff) but who cares about WHY it's celebrated? Isn't the nativity a depiction of the reason we celebrate it in the first place???

Okay, I guess we should just call it SOMETHINGmas!

The problem is that not everyone celebrates Christmas, and I think it's wrong that a town would put something up like that, especially funded with the residents money. Like others have mentioned, a home display or church is fine. But at the town hall or wherever, there should be the seperation of church and state, it technically isn't okay. I do celebrate christmas and believe in God, but I can also see how others would view this and I can imagine how I would feel if my own town put something up that I didn't believe in.

 

[John Smith1]

Christmas has very little to do with the birth of Christ these days....

When did shopping yourself into debt become a religious act?

No kidding.

But it's where it came from, isn't it? And btw I'm not religious, either, but i am Christian.

Easter isn't about eggs, either. The traditions have replaced the history of most holidays.

 

[allison443]

If he were in my town, I would have signed the petition as well.

There's a little ol' thing called separation of church and state. I do not think any city government has the right to display religious symbols of any kind.

I don't understand why governments are allowed to put up non-religious depictions of Christmas (i.e., Santa)...but right next to Santa is a menorah. Isn't that a symbol of a religious holiday?

 

[binny]

I don't have a problem with a Town Christmas display that is non-denominational... for instance, a cutout Santa, Christmas tree, and/or light-up reindeer. I do think it's inappropriate to use public funds to erect a Nativity on town-owned land.

But then you get into the whole "I dont celebrate Christmas at all so EVERYTHING should be taken down" argument.


I will tell you what happened here We had a park that was donated by a private citizen. They had a 10 comandments stone in it. Fred Phelps and his group of hate mongers purposely came to town and said "if you can have this stone, I can erect an anti gay monument too" It was a huge fuss, someone finally paid to have the statue moved to a nearby church. anything to appease the hate mongers.
Were they happy? Nope they came back and said that we couldnt have our cross up on the hill that has been there longer than any of us. They lost that battle.
They also started in on some other things in town.

It just never ends is the problem.

I would not have signed that petition.

 

[blu3d3vil]

Christmas has very little to do with the birth of Christ these days....

When did shopping yourself into debt become a religious act?

Wow this showed up on the first page, I didn't expect it till later.