New York Village Would Rather Remove 9-Foot Menorah than Allow Nativity Scene

Life Site News ^ | 12.19.06 | JORGE FITZ-GIBBON

[Coleus]

BRIARCLIFF MANOR, N.Y., December 20, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Village of Briarcliff Manor officials have decided to remove their entire holiday display, including a 9-foot-tall menorah, from a public park rather than allow a resident to add a crèche after Alliance Defense Fund attorneys and allied attorneys won a temporary restraining order Friday from a federal judge. The lawsuit and TRO motion were filed Dec. 11 after the Briarcliff Manor Village's Board of Trustees refused to permit the display.

"The village's constitutional violations regarding religious expression in public make them look like the grinches who stole Christmas and Chanukah from the citizens of Briarcliff Manor," said ADF-allied attorney John Stepanovich. "It is truly sad that officials have chosen not only to thumb their noses at religion but at the justice system as well, since our client's request of equal access for a privately-funded crèche in addition to the menorah was entirely constitutional."

In place of where the holiday display once stood, village officials displayed a sign criticizing U.S. District Judge William C. Conner's decision to grant the temporary restraining order. The federal court judge's decision forced officials to either remove the menorah or grant resident Henry Ritell's request to display a nativity scene alongside it.

The sign read, "The Village erected a menorah and Christmas tree display in a spirit of inclusion. In response to a federal court order the entire display has been removed. We disagree with the court." Following outcry from the public, village officials removed the sign.

[Luis Gonzalez]

"Is a good looking Hooters girl secular or religious??"

The right reponse of course is "a prayer answered."

[Bainbridge]

If no one answers him, he will just fade away.....

[Stayfree]

More importantly, in the true spirit of democracy, free speech and freedom of religion, let everyone put up a display and let the public enjoy, embrace or ignore each of them...any restriction is offensive to everyone except the liberal atheists...and if they had any real brains, they would come up with some twisted graphic version of gayism, abortionism, liberalism, evolotionism, communism, environmentalism, etc. except that they all are behind DENIALISM OF THE FACTS OF LIFE!

[Chickensoup]

Why not have both? The Founders intended more religion, not less.


Yes...but that is not what I am saying. I am saying that if the issues is secular to secular and religious to religious

Then the breakdown is
Christmas tree = dreidal
and Nativity scene = menorah

any other combination is disrespectful and in my opinion offensive.

[Chickensoup]

What else is there? Gelt looks like an ethnic joke, and latkes are not so good.

A dreidel

[Coleus]

It is called a CHRISTmas tree, for heavens sake. >>

the day or the solemnity in the catholic church is called Christmas, a Mass of Christ. The tree is just a former pagan symbol the Germans brought over to the USA. I know many non Christians, Hindus and Muslims, who put a tree in their homes during the Christmas season and buy presents to keep their kids happy. A creche is a religious symbol because it signifies the Holy Family at the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. One reason why so many towns allow the "secular" "Christmas tree" and not the Nativity Scene/Creche

[Edit35]

But then that says something about them. And her.

Sooooo. You want to make it illegal to honor one's religious holiday?

C'mon. That is NOT what America is about.

In fact, God help us if this country ever goes all secular, physically and mentally.

[zarf]

God is good. Thank you.

[BoomerBabe]

Andy, you have mail.

[Bainbridge]

I am fully aware of all that, but I do not accept that fact that it is somehow devoid of any "religious" significance. Just silly.

[BW2221]

In case you haven't noticed (and apparently you haven't), Ramadan has been over for a while. Yeah, Muzzies are still killing other Muzzies in Iraq, but it's no longer part of the official Ramadan celebration.

[dr_who_2]

I'm sure they have tried just that. Places like San Francisco may well be overrun with obnoxious liberals who want to offend the rest of the country. See where it gets them.

The "true spirit of democracy" doesn't give anyone 15 seconds on the "public megaphone" because the concept is hopelessly ridiculous. I remember hearing some kid from some Benelux/Scandinavian country gushing with perfect sincerity about the moral superiority of his country for giving a neo-nazi party a free 15 minutes of airtime on their public/quasi-public television network before an election. That's rubbish (and probably disingenuous to boot).

[Verginius Rufus]

I think it's generally agreed that the festival mentioned in John 10.22 was Hanukkah--the Greek text calls it Enkainia (literally "renewal") and notes that it was winter.

[BW2221]

"If it is the ACLU is gonna come after me cause I like that symbol"

The ACLU is planning to come after you. They're just waiting until the new Congress is sworn in (using a Koran).

[gidget7]

Actually I have seen some of the county, and yes it is beautiful. I agree, the ones that spring up, seemingly out of nowhere, are no where near as nice.

[taxesareforever]

I disagree. A creche is more a religious symbol which at Christmas time represents the birth of Christ. To a Christian the tree does have religious symbolism. However, it does not hold that symbolism for non-Christians but yet they put up a tree. You don't see them displaying a creche, do you?

[oneamericanvoice]

In all fairness, they probably wouldn't even allow a Kwanzaa display. Nor should they, since it is a fraudulent holiday perputrated by a fraudulent Anti-American man.

[Verginius Rufus]

The first book of Maccabees has some curious items in it--for example, a sketch of the rise of the Roman empire in chapter 8, and a letter from a king of Sparta to the Jewish high priest about 150 years earlier which claims that the Spartans were descended from Abraham (12.21).

The feast of dedication is dated to the 25th of Chislev, the ninth month (4.52)--that is, they were still using the Mosaic calendar which started the new year in the spring, rather than the Babylonian year adopted by the Jews later, which has the new year in the fall.

[rmlew]

The term was not used from the destruction of Philistia in the 9th century BCE until the 2nd Century CE. It was used by the Romans only after the Bar Kochba uprising as an attempt historically cleanse the land, justify colonization, and further demoralize the thrice defeated Jews.

[Lancey Howard]

New York Village Would Rather Remove 9-Foot Menorah than Allow Nativity Scene

Menorah? Isn't that a "holiday candelabra"?