Every Holiday season is the same thing. We are told by conservatives that there is a ‘war on Christmas’ where saying ‘Merry Christmas’ isn’t allowed and public schools aren’t allowed to sing religious Christmas songs and how this will destroy our world… yadda yadda. The ‘war’ is poppycock but why is it that atheist or freethought holiday displays seem to be the only ones vandalized during the season? If there is a ‘war’, it is on inclusion not Christmas.
Tag: public square
On Saturday, American Atheists unveiled a monument to atheism on the lawn of the Bradford County Courthouse in Florida. The monument is a bench and marker inscribed with quotes, concerning the relationship between church and state, by the founders, a quote by American Atheist founder Madalyn Murray O’Hair, and some Bible quotes showing the punishment for breaking the Ten Commandments. Also at the event American Atheists President David Silverman announced that more monuments will be erected around the country. While the public square should be free from symbols from any particular belief, if such symbols are allowed then ALL such symbols should be allowed.
Here is a quick refresher: American Atheists filed a lawsuit against Bradford County in Florida to have a Ten Commandments monument removed from the court house grounds. The county asked the group, Community Men’s Fellowship, who donated the monument, to remove it but the group refused. The county, not wanting to lose the lawsuit and not wanting to spend its own money to remove it settled the lawsuit by making the grounds officially a public forum, allowing any group to install a display. American Atheists took them up on the offer.