Okay, Explain This to Me

Writes Pastor Jeff:

The same rabbi who demanded a large menorah be put on display at Sea-Tac Airport got Washington's Governor to light a menorah in the statehouse. When a local real estate agent asked to place a creche next to it, the state turned him down, fearing that a creche might give too strong an impression of government support for religion -- as opposed to, you know, the Governor lighting a menorah in the statehouse...

Look -- I don't care if you put up a Menorah on government property as a sign of inclusion and equality. My faith doesn't need a show of government support. But this does raise the question of where you draw the line: How many displays are you going to allow? What ones? Who decides?

And to have the Governor light a menorah and then disallow a nativity scene does seem more than a little discriminatory. Why can the state express support for the miracle of Hanukkah and not the miracle of the Nativity?

To paraphrase Seinfeld:
"And this offends you as a Jew?"
"No, it offends me as an American."

I would prefer taking down all religious holiday displays off public property -- even Christmas trees -- rather than having the state express approval for certain religions.

Like me, Jeff is sick and tired of hearing Christians bellyache about a "war on Christmas." Jesus never promised that He would be any more welcome now than He was on the night of His birth or the day of His crucifixion. But it is more than a little weird that the symbols of one faith are acceptable and those of another aren't.

Read the whole thing.