In one of the stranger "War on Christmas" stories I've read in a while – and that's saying something – Santa Monica, California officials came up with a unique solution for their holiday display disputes. Instead of banning religious displays in Palisades Park (where a Nativity scene has been prominently hosted for many years) altogether, and instead of allowing all to post whatever holiday display they like (as was tried in Olympia, WA a few years back), Santa Monica officials decided they had room for 21 displays and held a lottery.
Sounds fair right? I guess it is, and one interesting way to handle the problem. So everyone's happy? No. It turns out that atheist groups won 18 of the 21 spots.
The Nativity story that once took 14 displays to tell — from the Annunciation, continuing to the manger in Bethlehem and onto infant Jesus' journey to Egypt and back to Nazareth — had to be abridged to three and crammed into two plots.
Now, people walking down the sidewalk pass scenes of the Annunciation, the creche and tidings of "Peace on Earth." Then, a few yards away, a poster from American Atheists: "37 Million Americans Know MYTHS When They See Them. What do you see?"
Why can't we just leave the large religious, non-religious, anti-religious displays out of public parks and government buildings and reserve them for our homes and houses of worship? Remember when going to the park was just about picnics and fresh air?
