It's The Most War-Mongering Time Of The Year!
By Caroline O'Donovan in News on Nov 24, 2012 8:00PM
The separation of church and state. It means a lot of different things to a lot of people.
But one thing it definitely means is, you can’t have city funds paying for a crucifix to hang on your water tower.
This news might cause you to ask the question, Haven’t I seen enormous crosses hanging on all kinds of public works on various road trips through rural America? Well, yeah, you have, probably, because these things are generally allowed to persist so long as nobody complains.
But, alas, someone in Alsip, Illinois, undoubtedly some sort of responsible citizen, finally reached his breaking point, and now the Good Christian Fun is over for everyone. An unnamed resident reported the town’s annual bad habit of fixing a crucifix to its water tower to the Freedom From Religion Foundation last week. The town, unable and unwilling to fight the lawsuit, gave in immediately.
Or, as Fox News so delicately put it, “WAR ON CHRISTMAS ERUPTS IN ILLINOIS.”
The Freedom from Religion Foundation was founded in 1978, is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, and boasts members in all 50 of the United States. In July, the organization succeeded in having a Ten Commandments display removed from a school in Giles County, Virginia; in August, the town of Whiteville, Tennessee began dismantling a water tower cross and paid $20,000 in attorney’s fees, vowing never again to place a crucifix on public property.
The mayor of Alsip told Fox he regrets having to change the tradition, but acknowledged that the anti-Christmas onslaught “simply cannot be stopped.”
Some Fox News readers added their own suggestions to dealing with this problem going forward, asking “If I can put up a lighted pentagram next to the cross, I'm totally OK with the cross on the tower. Do you guys think that will fly?,” but adding, “Otherwise it's a war on my Christmas...”
The issue continues to be a widespread cause for debate. One reader, Rogeringtexan, added “A pentagram has to do with what? How is that related to Christmas? Ain’t nobody business how a group of people/community wish to rule themselves.”