Posted on 12/17/2006 2:07:14 PM PST by familyop
Wayne Allard's participation considered a huge slap in face to city council which is allowing a Christmas tree display but not a menorah
The Ft. Collins city council in Colorado has voted against inclusion of Hanukkah menorahs in municipality holiday displays throughout the city but will include Christmas trees as they are considered a secular symbol. The council has decided to only incorporate non-denominational décor for the holiday festivities.
Although the US Supreme Court has ruled the Hanukkah menorah can be used as a secular object in such settings, Chabad's unofficial website Shturem reported that the city council insists that the menorah is a religious symbol.
Ft. Collins Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Executive Director Chip Steiner told the city's Chabad emissary, Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelick, that "It's an honest, simple and difficult decision they've reached. It's not meant to be exclusive".
Senator Allard jumps in
In a move some have considered as a “slap in the face" to the city council, Republican Senator Wayne Allard of Colorado announced on Monday that he will participate in the lighting of the Hanukkah menorah organized by Chabad.
Allard will join Mayor Doug Hutchinson and various Jewish leaders in the ceremony, which will be held on Dec. 21st, on the seventh day of Hanukkah whose eight-day duration begins on the night of Dec. 15th.
A spokesman for Sen. Allard said that the senator is not taking a stand against the city's policies but Rabbi Gorelik told Shturem in an interview that Allard's participation sends a strong message to Fort Collins' officials that they are failing to acknowledge the diversity of faith in the city.
"We've been trying to bring recognition that there are people who celebrate the holiday season a different way," Gorelik said. "And the city has not been helping us do that." Gorelik has been permitted to light the menorah in Old Town Ft. Collins on Dec. 21 and then relocate it to a local pub.
"If Hanukkah is good enough for the senator, then it should be good enough for the city council," concluded Rabbi Gorelik.
If Yule trees "are considered a secular symbol," why are they threatening to yank them in reaction to rabbis wanting to display menorahs? Why are they starting a religious war over them?
You just answered your own question.
Thanks. And for all others, I was referring to the Sea-Tac airport propaganda-fest with that question (or begging of the question).
Alouette, FYI...
Good for the Senator. This crap is getting out of control.
However, not one public tax dime should go towards these displays. Let 'em buy the permits like everyone else, but don't restrict them otherwise.
No. I don't really care whose religion gets offended by someone else's religion being displayed next to theirs. Grow up...
And how is a Menorah offensive to Christians or anyone else? What a bunch of idiots. They won't find themselves making many political points over this stupidity.
Hmmmm, interesting last name. Any chance he's related to Jamie, The Wall, Gorelick and her brother Kenny G.?
Enquiring minds wnat to know.
Will there also be crosses and a nativity scene?
That was very well said. Many of the Europeans who came earliest to America did so to get away from the religious wars and edicts of old Europe. They wanted the freedom to show their beliefs without being hassled by freaks like Bill O'Reilly.
I thought that you might want to see this. Follow the link for photos about pioneer Jewish families in Colorado. ...hope to be a stranger of assistance in assimilation areas among the peaks in the coming years.
http://www.penrose.du.edu/specoll/Beck/photo12.cfm
(from the Beck archives)
Oops. This is page one. Page two showed Ft. Collins photos, though.
http://www.penrose.du.edu/specoll/Beck/photo11.cfm
The real "slap in the face" is calling a Christmas Tree a secular symbol.
When did that happen?
We are planning a move to CO in the coming year. Ft. Collins was high on my list. Not any more. I was encouraged tho by the store keepers who put menorah's in their shop window.
If the sight of a menorah is such an awful offensive thing, then the city council should stay in their houses, pull down the shades, and live like hermits. The world is better off without them.
Good on Allard. I want a public square that is open to religion and I don't want Christmas secularized. There is nothing in the US Constitution that gives the secular sole access to the public square. Senator Allard evidently understands that. A good man.
It shouldnt be I applaud the Senator (as a Christian myself): I also have respect for the Menorah as a Christian myself I recognize the Jewish roots of Christianity and it shouldn't offend Christians: I think the common thread here is that our common opponent in this "war" is the radical secularists that insist upon a "strict seperation-of-church-+state)..
Jesus celebrated Hanukkah. John 10:22-23, "Then came the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah) at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade."
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