Quote:
Originally Posted by Gn2Dlnd
I have to point out (wet blanket that I am) that the Rabbi didn't threaten to sue because there were Christmas trees displayed, he threatened to sue to be allowed to display a menorah. The airport over reacted by taking down the trees because they were afraid they'd have to honor every culture's holiday observances. By the way, the trees are back. The Rabbi was as dismayed as anyone that the airport took them down. |
I don't blame the airport for taking the trees down. They did what they had to do to mitigate the threat of lawsuit. As I mentioned elsewhere, I think the Rabbi was out of line. If I had my druthers, Christmas displays by publicly funded institutions would go away (but, like Alex's pledge example, I don't find it a big enough deal to take action on, just a "since the question was asked" stance). But the solution is NOT to go the other way and start suing to include menorahs in everything. 1989's
County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union decision, which stops just short of calling a menorah a secular symbol right along with the Christmas tree, makes me shudder enough. I don't appreciate rabbis going around trying to finish the job.