Posted on 12/08/2011 8:50:41 AM PST by tuffydoodle
ATHENS, Texas - The signs of Christmas are everywhere in downtown Athens.
Lights, trees, and Santa and his reindeer line the streets. But it's the nativity scene on the lawn at the county courthouse that has caused concern.
"I just don't understand it, to be honest with you," said Henderson County Judge Richard Sanders. "I'm just confused about it."
Sanders says residents haven't complained. The issues were brought up by the Freedom From Religion foundation, a Wisconsin non-profit group who sent a letter to the county this week, calling the display unconstitutional and demanding it come down.
"I'm an old country boy, you come to my house looking for a fight, you're going to get one," said County Commissioner Joe Hall. "That's from the bottom of my heart."
There's no confusing how Hall feels. He says the county isn't budging.
"We'll remove it when hell freezes over," Hall said. "It's not going to happen."
Henderson County doesn't own the nativity scene. It has been put up for more than a decade by volunteers from the Keep Athens Beautiful group.
Commissioners say they wouldn't object to other religious displays being put up on county property, but they've never been asked.
If it is open to all faiths, then the Freedom from Religion foundation tells News 8 it wants to put it's own sign at the courthouse. One that reads, in part, "That there is no God, no devils, no angels or heaven" and that, "Religion hardens the heart and enslaves minds."
It's happened before.
The same sign was put up at the capital building in Washington state back in 2008. The same group, the Freedom From Religion foundation, got it posted right next to another nativity scene. The sign brought out angry protesters there, and county officials believe it would bring out the same anger, having an outsider forcing their hand.
"I would be interested if a person from Henderson County approached me, wanting to put up something on the Henderson County Courthouse lawn," said Judge Sanders. "I don't want someone from Wisconsin asking us to do something."
Their hand may be forced for them.
The Supreme Court has ruled against nativity scenes on government property in the past, but it seems clear, it's a fight county officials are ready to take on.
"I ain't gonna back down," Hall said. "I haven't and I won't."
I fail to understand how a Wisconsin-based advocacy group has standing in an issue involving a display on county-government property in Texas.
I’m not a Texan, but God bless Texas!
This is TX, not some pissbucket worthless republic del norte.
How smart can the Wisconsin yankees be if they can’t make a profit?
The folks in Athens, Texas should ‘invite’ the folks from Wisconsin down so they can try to take down the town’s nativity scene.
I’d be willing to pay $30 to watch the action on Pay-Per-View.
“The Supreme Court has ruled against nativity scenes on government property in the past”
I seemed to have missed that ruling..
When did that happen?
; - )
I see these people are still at it.
Must be nice that a nativity display is the biggest thing they have to worry about.
“I’m an old country boy, you come to my house looking for a fight, you’re going to get one,” said County Commissioner Joe Hall. “That’s from the bottom of my heart.”
OUTSTANDING response!!
“I ain’t gonna back down,” Hall said. “I haven’t and I won’t.”
I get the feeling his response ended with “and the horse you rode in on”...good for him!
“The folks in Athens, Texas should ‘invite’ the folks from Wisconsin down so they can try to take down the town’s nativity scene.”
That’s what I was thinking. I’m sick to death of these small fringe minority groups trying to tell the majority how to live their lives. It’s past time we say, “you don’t like it? Too damn bad.”
maybe they meant non-prophet?
As soon as I read the title I knew it would be those a-holes of Freedom from Religion. They have been muckraking in this state for a long time.
That's pretty funny.
Every christian resident in Athens should put up a nativity
Scene on their front lawns, and ask residents of Wisconsin to do the same so that support is seen for proper Ethics, based on our Founding Fathers wishes, that America be based on The Law of God.
Tell the Wisconsin group to shove it up their smelly Obamas.
Use exact wording.
They don’t want a “Christmas Tree”, instead the want a “Holiday Tree”, they don’t want the kids to wear red and green in school, it’s too religious. They don’t want to hear merry Christmas, they want happy holidays. When I hear Happy holidays I ask, “which holidays?”
If you call a sows ear a silk purse it is still a sows ear. When you say “happy holidays” everybody knows you mean “merry Christmas”. I get terribly annoyed at the religion haters who want to ruin my life so I can be miserable like them.
To me a Manger scene is an emblem of Christmas, just like Merry Christmas, Christmas trees all the lights and even red and green. Why do they care?
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