"Santa Claus Will Take You to Hell"

[randy_byers]

Well, the battle of the religious displays at the Capitol here just gets better and better. "The Department of General Administration, which oversees the Capitol grounds, declared a moratorium Friday on any pending and future requests to put up displays in the Capitol building."

This all started when a Nativity scene was put up on the Capitol grounds and a hardcore atheist group (I think we need a new name for this type of atheist -- perhaps "anti-theist"?) requested their own display which says, amongst other things, "Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."

Well, the requests for displays have flooded in since then. Now the jackasses from the Westboro "God Hates Fags" Baptist Church have gotten involved, requesting a display that says "Santa Claus Will Take You to Hell" and "Santa's to blame for the dead soldier's fate." (One of their hobbyhorses is that US soldiers are dying in Iraq because the US condones homosexuality.)

Says the Seattle Times: "The moratorium applies to Westboro's application, along with pending requests for a Buddhist display, a Jewish banner, a mannequin of Satan holding a statement against atheists and wishing them a merry Christmas, an aluminum pole in celebration of the invented holiday of Festivus, and a 'Flying Spaghetti Monster Holiday Display.' A menorah is still scheduled to go up Dec. 21, since that application had already been approved."

I actually think the moratorium is kind of bogus and they should let the shit fly. Where's the harm in it?

Comments

[n6tqs.livejournal.com]

Where's the harm in it?

It would detract from the "true meaning of Christmas", an excuse to shop.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

With the economy in the tank this year, nobody's shopping for Santa anyway!

[liveavatar.livejournal.com]

I think of that type of atheist group as "fundamentalist atheist," not having any other short and handy adjectives for groups that insist "it's my way or the highway."

Sure, why not have a "holiday free speech zone"? The editorial cartoons are practically drawing themselves (in my head, where they use less paper).

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've used "fundamentalist atheist" before too.

I'm particularly disappointed that the Flying Spaghetti Monster display is being blocked!

[orangemike.livejournal.com]

Speaking as a devout Christian, I say, "purge 'em all; declutter the public space."

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's probably the fairest solution.

[wrdnrd]

I entirely agree w/ my orange colleague. I don't want my state involved w/ any religion, and vice versa.

[kdotdammit.livejournal.com]

Photos please! I want to see all of them. And I agree with you. Fuck the moratorium. This could me art!

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Here are pictures of the Nativity and atheist displays.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

If it were a Santa display, I might agree with you. However, it's a display of the baby Jesus, so there's no way it's not religious. That's why people get irate about it.

[paulcarp.livejournal.com]

As long as Christmas is a federal holiday, there's a problem.

Thing is, I don't want Christmas to stop being a federal holiday, because I like the paid day off from work.

The state Capitol flap seems to be the SeaTac holiday tree flap in a new disguise. And at least it's not as ugly as this annual story about canceled events, rather than granted permits.

''Merry Christmas from the Klan.''

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Holy shit! Although I don't know, is the Klan more awful than the Westboro Baptist Church at this point? And I'm ashamed to admit that I'd never even considered how making Christmas a federal holiday is a bit of a problem. Yikes. I'd be happy to switch the holiday to the solstice, but I can just imagine the political shitstorm that would result if anybody actually tried to make that happen. Right up there with trying to strip "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. Well, somebody should sue for it anyway. Or did somebody already try that?

Re: ''Merry Christmas from the Klan.''

[paulcarp.livejournal.com]

Over the years, many parades have been canceled rather than allowing certain entries. About 25 years ago, the KKK wanted their banner to read "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas," so maybe "Merry Christmas from the Klan" is better than that.

You possibly know that "under God" was added to the pledge of allegiance (by Congress) in 1954.

Re: ''Merry Christmas from the Klan.''

[paulcarp.livejournal.com]

From 1991.

Re: ''Merry Christmas from the Klan.''

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

"Dreaming of a White Christmas" is actually clever, in an evil way. Glad to see that so many people refused to play ball with them.

Re: ''Merry Christmas from the Klan.''

[paulcarp.livejournal.com]

Also,

is the Klan more awful than the Westboro Baptist Church at this point?

I really don't have Dante's ability to assign the various hells these people belong in.

[alces2.livejournal.com]

Well, it provides items for the local news team. Gee, no Pagan Yule display? I agree, I want the 'Flying Spaghetti Monster Holiday Display'!

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Apparently this has also been a subject of outrage on Bill O'Reilly's teevee show. Yay! When I first read about the Festivus idea, I thought it might be pagan, but I guess it's another fake one.