December Dilemma Watch 2007

December Dilemma Watch 2007

Festivus Makes it to City Hall

posted by hrossi | 1:08pm Tuesday December 18, 2007

In Green Bay, Wisconsin, a nativity scene was erected in front of City Hall. Some members of the community felt that this was an inappropriate public display of religion, and one man felt strongly enough about it to request that a Festivus pole be erected next to the creche. Festivus, of course, is the fictional holiday, popularized by the “Seinfeld” show, in which an unadorned aluminum pole is posted and people partake in rituals including “feats of strength” and “the airing of grievances.”
According to this Associated Press article, resident Sean Ryan requested the Festivus display in order to “showcase how deciding what religions to include in the display can turn to the absurd.”
Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt, however, is not amused. The mayor says that a Wiccan pentacle display was installed at City Hall after residents requested it, proving that the city is willing to display symbols of legitimate religions.
The “silly antics” of the Festivus request, Schmitt said, “is kind of making a laughing matter of something that’s rather serious.”



Previous Posts

All is Calm, All is Bright
As I bring this year's December Dilemma Watch to a close, I have to say that 2007 will not go down as a banner year in the history of the Christmas wars. There were no freedom-of-religion (or freedom-from-religion) lawsuits that grabbed national headlines, no flood of boycotts of major retailers be

posted 10:23:43am Dec. 24, 2007 | read full post »

No Christ in Christmas? Impossible!
Yesterday, CNN.com published this column by commentator Roland Wilson, in which he makes the argument that Americans should "return to traditional values, and end this ridiculous charade" of stripping Christmas of its religious meaning. To longtime observers of the December Dilemma, Wilson's essay a

posted 10:58:44am Dec. 21, 2007 | read full post »

Not Until His Birthday, Please
This week, at least 12 residents of Santa Clarita, California discovered something missing from the nativity scenes they had put up in their front yards--the baby Jesus. In place of the baby, according to Los Angeles' KNBC News, the thieves left a note that read, "Do not worry for baby Jesus is not

posted 10:30:24am Dec. 21, 2007 | read full post »

The Vatican's Nativity Switch
According to Catholic World News, the Vatican has changed its tradition of erecting a Nativity scene of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in a manger in Bethlehem, instead putting up a scene of the holy family in their home in Nazareth. The Vatican has put up a creche since Pope John Paul II instituted the t

posted 10:00:08am Dec. 21, 2007 | read full post »

Mike Huckabee's Christmas Message
Gov. Mike Huckabee, the ordained Southern Baptist preacher who continues to rise in the Republican presidential primary polls, has a new ad out that aims directly for the pro-Christmas set. People shouldn't be bombarded during this time of year with political ads, Huckabee says while wearing a red

posted 10:35:00am Dec. 19, 2007 | read full post »

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