There’s room for all on the public square
I’ve always considered myself to be a pragmatic individual, someone who looks
for a practical solution to a problem, or just using common sense. Sometimes
that conflicts with the dreamer in me and how I like to look at how things can
be done or made better. Sometimes being pragmatic is like wearing a “Kick Me”
sign on my back. This likely will be one of those latter occasions.
If you’ve been around Baxter County the past couple of days, no doubt you have heard about the issue involving the nativity scene on the courthouse lawn on the Mountain Home square. It seems last month our county judge received a request for permission to place a “Happy Winter Solstice” banner on the lawn, too. Apparently the county judge laughed it off. Now, he’s learned it wasn’t a joke when the American Humanist Association, through its legal center, notified him the nativity scene is unconstitutional.
He said he rejected the request for the banner because if he let one person or group put up an occasional exhibit it would open the door to “hundreds.” To be honest, he’s already done that with the nativity scene, which I take to be the real point of the AHA’s letter. While the group asks that the nativity scene be removed (which it has been, probably because it’s 10 days past Christmas) there’s implication in the request that the judge allow other groups to place a message on the public property with the nativity scene, too. The position is based on the Constitution and previous court rulings that call for equal access.
Personally, I don’t see the problem with placing a “Happy Winter Solstice” banner on the courthouse lawn as well as the nativity scene. When I heard there had been a request, my first thought was, “So what?” I don’t see it as an attack on religion or Christianity, either. It was just someone wanting to express their version of season’s greetings in a public forum. It wasn’t as if they wanted to have a human sacrifice on the courthouse steps or perform some arcane ritual involving chickens, or Marie Laveau wanting to open a branch of Voodoo-R-Us in the courthouse basement.
Before you ball up your paper, or hit the delete button, please, stay with me.
I’m a Christian. I’ve never denied it, never hidden it. It was how I was raised, and what helped shape my values. My beliefs are my beliefs. One of the most important gifts we have is free will and the ability to think for ourselves and believe what we want. Obviously, not everyone believes the same way, even in our community.
Yes, Mountain Home is a predominantly Christian community when it comes to religion. But, there’s also a wide range of beliefs and doctrine among Christians themselves. There also are a fair number of non-Christians within the community, too. Most of you probably would be surprised to learn there are Jews, Buddhists, pagans and Wiccans who live here. There also are agnostics and atheists who call Baxter County home. Most of them aren’t particularly vocal and keep their beliefs among themselves, and some of the reactions to the nativity issue pretty well show why.
A winter solstice banner, or a menorah display for Hannukah, or some other occasional exhibit isn’t going to lessen the meaning of the nativity scene nor should it lessen anyone’s faith. It’s not an attack, nor an effort to destroy a tradition. It’s members of our community who believe differently but want to share in the joy of the season, add to the tradition and be treated fairly.
There is, and always should be, plenty of room on the public square for all of us.
If you’ve been around Baxter County the past couple of days, no doubt you have heard about the issue involving the nativity scene on the courthouse lawn on the Mountain Home square. It seems last month our county judge received a request for permission to place a “Happy Winter Solstice” banner on the lawn, too. Apparently the county judge laughed it off. Now, he’s learned it wasn’t a joke when the American Humanist Association, through its legal center, notified him the nativity scene is unconstitutional.
He said he rejected the request for the banner because if he let one person or group put up an occasional exhibit it would open the door to “hundreds.” To be honest, he’s already done that with the nativity scene, which I take to be the real point of the AHA’s letter. While the group asks that the nativity scene be removed (which it has been, probably because it’s 10 days past Christmas) there’s implication in the request that the judge allow other groups to place a message on the public property with the nativity scene, too. The position is based on the Constitution and previous court rulings that call for equal access.
Personally, I don’t see the problem with placing a “Happy Winter Solstice” banner on the courthouse lawn as well as the nativity scene. When I heard there had been a request, my first thought was, “So what?” I don’t see it as an attack on religion or Christianity, either. It was just someone wanting to express their version of season’s greetings in a public forum. It wasn’t as if they wanted to have a human sacrifice on the courthouse steps or perform some arcane ritual involving chickens, or Marie Laveau wanting to open a branch of Voodoo-R-Us in the courthouse basement.
Before you ball up your paper, or hit the delete button, please, stay with me.
I’m a Christian. I’ve never denied it, never hidden it. It was how I was raised, and what helped shape my values. My beliefs are my beliefs. One of the most important gifts we have is free will and the ability to think for ourselves and believe what we want. Obviously, not everyone believes the same way, even in our community.
Yes, Mountain Home is a predominantly Christian community when it comes to religion. But, there’s also a wide range of beliefs and doctrine among Christians themselves. There also are a fair number of non-Christians within the community, too. Most of you probably would be surprised to learn there are Jews, Buddhists, pagans and Wiccans who live here. There also are agnostics and atheists who call Baxter County home. Most of them aren’t particularly vocal and keep their beliefs among themselves, and some of the reactions to the nativity issue pretty well show why.
A winter solstice banner, or a menorah display for Hannukah, or some other occasional exhibit isn’t going to lessen the meaning of the nativity scene nor should it lessen anyone’s faith. It’s not an attack, nor an effort to destroy a tradition. It’s members of our community who believe differently but want to share in the joy of the season, add to the tradition and be treated fairly.
There is, and always should be, plenty of room on the public square for all of us.
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Good word, Sonny!
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