Happy Festivus!

[Will Linden]

"Remember, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice and Gurnenthar's 
Ascendance are coming!" -- Magic Box, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER



On Mon, 17 Dec 2007, Susan Freiman wrote:

> 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=WIFON&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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>

Will Linden  wlinden at panix.com
http://www.ecben.net/
Magic Code: MAS/GD S++ W++ N+ PWM++ Ds/r+ A-> a++ C+ G- QO++ 666 Y