by Nancy Seddens

Created on: June 09, 2007   Last Updated: July 12, 2010

It's an annual argument in Americaand usually surfaces between Halloween and Thanksgiving. The question that inevitably arises; does the seasonal display of religious decorations violate the First Amendment to the Constitution? The Amendment states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

It usually starts one of two ways, either a religion that is has been left out of the display wants one also or anti-religious zealots insists that it's unconstitutional to have any display at all. Then the wrangling starts, what is a religious symbol and what is a seasonal one? Since decorating trees as a winter practice in some countries and predates the introduction of Christianity can we let these 'seasonal trees' slide? Can we call a Star of David an ethnic symbol and not a religious one?

 I believe the question hinges upon whether the display is paid for or put up by the government and if the manner of choosing which symbols are displayed is fair. The purpose of that portion of the First Amendment which relates to religion is to insure freedom of religion by not having a state endorsed religion. So long as the decorations are paid for by private funds and not public ones and all religions have an equal opportunity to display their symbols on the public square at times appropriate to their respective holidays, I see no conflict with our Constitution.

I personally find it hard to understand why one religion cares if another wants to display its symbols. If Muslims in my community want to go to the expense and trouble to put up a display for Ramadan it won't bother me nor would a Menorah to commemorate Hanukkah. I wouldn't even care if atheists put up a display, although I can't imagine what they would want to display or what time of year  they would display it

The public square belongs to the people and majority should rule on its use as long as no public money is used. To be fair to all, any and all religions represented by the constituency should have use of the public square to mount a display. The only requirements should be that their members are eligible to vote in that municipality, have turned in a request to use the square within a prescribed time limit, and that their religion has a tradition tied to that time of year. If the square gets too crowded then allot space according to the percentage that a group represents of the total population or draw lots.

We are suppose to have freedom OF religion and not freedom FROM religion. A true representation of what America stands for would be public squares filled will every display representing every religion that is represented by those living in that municipality.

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