On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute Urges Loudoun County Board of Supervisors to Celebrate Diversity by Allowing Seasonal Holiday Displays at Courthouse
LEESBURG, Va. --The Rutherford Institute is urging the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors to reject a proposal to ban all seasonal holiday displays on the grounds of the County Courthouse. In a letter to the Board of Supervisors, Institute president John W. Whitehead points out that the proposed ban will only serve to heighten community tensions and could reflect a hostility toward religion on the part of the Board of Supervisors, as well as an intolerance for the diverse makeup of the residents of Loudoun County.
The Institute's letter is available here.
"The U.S. Constitution and jurisprudence make it possible for the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors to celebrate the diversity within their community by establishing a thriving marketplace of ideas rather than adopting a sanitized, politically correct government message," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "Indeed, Loudoun County should lead the way in adopting a model protocol for holiday displays that embodies the spirit of the First Amendment."
Community and citizen groups may use Loudoun County's courthouse grounds during the year-end holiday season for up to ten unattended, semi-permanent displays. Groups may apply for permission to erect holiday displays, and space is allotted on a first-come, first-serve basis. However, the Board of Supervisors has been considering several proposals that would either eliminate holiday displays altogether or merely ban religious elements from a single committee-arranged holiday display that would take the place of the community displays--a move that Whitehead warns would neither promote neutrality nor lessen conflict.
In his letter to the Board, Whitehead acknowledged that the face of America is changing rapidly to reflect a population with diverse backgrounds and belief systems, and government officials must walk a fine line, especially during the holiday season, in balancing the varied needs of their communities. Nonetheless, warns Whitehead, the Board must take care not to fall in line with the national trend toward political correctness and hostility to religion, which has seen corporations and government officials going to outrageous lengths to avoid anything related to religious holidays, Christmas in particular, in order to not offend those who do not celebrate the holidays.
For example, many schools across the country now avoid anything that alludes to the religious celebration of Christmas--such as angels, the baby Jesus, stables and shepherds. In many of the nation's schools, Christmas carols, Christmas trees, wreaths and candy canes have also been banned as part of the effort to avoid any reference to Christmas, Christ or God. One school even outlawed the colors red and green, saying they were Christmas colors and, thus, illegal. Even so, says Whitehead, "this antiseptic, colorless course does not have to be your chosen path. The law clearly falls on the side of allowing holiday displays."
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