Friday, November 14, 2008



9NEWS.com | Colorado's Online News Leader | Golden decides lights on trees are OK: "GOLDEN - The Golden City Council voted unanimously on Thursday night to only allow secular items on city property for the holidays this year. The city made the decision because the lights on Washington Street stirred up controversy. A local rabbi asked that a Hanukkah menorah be added to the decorations on the main street, but the city resisted, saying it didn't want religious symbols. Current decorations in the city include lights on trees, garland, snowflakes and snowballs. The rabbi countered that Christmas lights are religious in nature. The city disagreed and Thursday night's resolution allows the lights to stay up. There is one exception. A Santa Claus that is traditionally on the arch over Washington Street will stay because of its historical nature. The figure has been there as a tradition for many years."
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Christmas lights: OK
Santa: OK
Garland, snowflakes, and snowballs: OK
Menorah: NOT OK

I think I get the distinction they are trying to make here, but the end result is a secularized celebration of the Christian holiday called Christmas, but no public celebration of Hanukkah. In my ideal world there would be all sorts of religious symbols along with the secular ones. Given that the stores will all be going broke this Christmas and corporations will be doing mass end-of-year layoffs, we could all do with a little prayer anyway. It's free, after all. So I'll put one up here.

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