Happy Festivus!

[Susan Freiman]

Doesn't such a limitation constitute favoring religion over non-religion?

Ed Brayton wrote:
> Then the answer is no as it does not fit the purpose of this limited public
> forum. 
>
> Ed Brayton
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: religionlaw-bounces at lists.ucla.edu
> [mailto:religionlaw-bounces at lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Susan Freiman
> Sent: Monday, December 17, 2007 10:33 AM
> To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics
> Subject: Re: Happy Festivus!
>
> Suppose a group wants to put up a display that's not associated with any 
> religion or anti-religion?  Advertising, for example?
>
> Susan
>
> Ed Brayton wrote:
>   
>> I think Green Bay has hit upon the ideal solution to the annual battles
>>     
> over
>   
>> nativity scenes on public property. I think the court can fix the problem
>>     
> by
>   
>> declaring two things:
>>
>> 1. the government cannot fund such displays.
>>
>> 2. if a private group is allowed to put up a display for their religious
>> holiday, then the government has created a limited public forum and all
>> groups must be allowed equal access to put up their own. 
>>
>> No more battles over whether a given display has a sufficient number of
>> "secular" symbols mixed in to dilute the message of endorsement. No more
>> battles over what constitutes a secular symbol, e.g. a menorah or a star
>>     
> and
>   
>> crescent as in the NY city school case. No more problems with endorsement
>>     
> of
>   
>> any kind because every display is privately owned and maintained and all
>> private groups have equal access. Problem solved. Thoughts?
>>
>> Ed Brayton
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: religionlaw-bounces at lists.ucla.edu
>> [mailto:religionlaw-bounces at lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Susan Freiman
>> Sent: Monday, December 17, 2007 3:26 AM
>> To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics
>> Subject: Happy Festivus!
>>
>>
>>     
> http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WI_FESTIVUS_NATIVITY_WIOL-?SITE=WIFON
>   
>> &SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT 
>>
>>     
> <http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WI_FESTIVUS_NATIVITY_WIOL-?SITE=WIFO
>   
>> N&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT>
>>
>> Dec 16, 1:58 PM EST
>>
>> Festivus pole proposed at Green Bay City Hall
>>
>>
>> Advertisement
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- The putting up of a nativity scene at Green
>> Bay's City Hall has prompted a tongue-in-cheek request from a suburban
>> man for permission to display a Festivus pole on the overhang of the
>> building's northwest entrance.
>>
>> The Festivus holiday created by author Daniel O'Keefe during the 1970s
>> and popularized by comedian Jerry Seinfeld two decades later is
>> celebrated by some both in earnest and jest on Dec. 23.
>>
>> The request by Sean Ryan of Allouez was made during the weekend after
>> Green Bay City Council president Chad Fradette received the go-ahead
>> last week from the city's advisory committee to install a nativity
>> display at City Hall.
>>
>> Fradette said he proposed the display in response to criticism of a
>> nativity display at a city park in nearby Peshtigo.
>>
>> A practicing Catholic who would prefer to see no religious displays at
>> a government office, Ryan said his request to put up an undecorated six
>> foot aluminum pole was intended to showcase how deciding what religions
>> to include in the display can turn to the absurd.
>>
>> "I was turning over how extreme things could get and how loosely things
>> could get interpreted,
>>
>> " Ryan said.
>>
>> "The real feat of strength would be for the mayor to stand up and say
>> this is absurd," Ryan added. "Let us keep nativity scenes where they
>> belong in the churches, in our homes and in our hearts."
>>
>> On Friday, a Wiccan pentacle was put up at the Green Bay City Hall
>> consisting of an evergreen wreath encircling a gold five-pointed star.
>>
>> Wicca is a nature-based religion based on respect for the earth, nature
>> and the cycle of the seasons. But variations of the pentacle not
>> accepted by Wiccans have been used in horror movies as a sign of the
>> devil.
>>
>> Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt said items besides the nativity scene to be
>> displayed need to associated with a religion, and the Festivus pole is
>> just pop culture.
>>
>> "This is kind of making a laughing matter of something that's rather
>> serious," he said.
>>
>> The mayor said "silly antics" would not help resolve the questions
>> facing the City Council on Tuesday, when it is scheduled to take up the
>> matter.
>>
>> The mayor said he plans to forward some preliminary guidelines to the
>> council Monday, including a limit on the time period for the displays
>> and how to determine if a display is representative of a religion.
>>
>> "This isn't an area that we have a lot of expertise," Schmitt said.
>>
>> ---
>>
>> Information from: Green Bay Press-Gazette,
>> http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com <http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com>
>>
>> ===
>>
>> Buy your Festivus Pole at
>>
>> http://www.festivuspoles.com/pages/Festivuspoles.htm 
>> <http://www.festivuspoles.com/pages/Festivuspoles.htm>
>>
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