10.08.2008
The Green Bay Nativity Case Fizzles Out
The Religion Clause blog reports that a case involving a controversial Nativity Scene erected on city property in Green Bay, Wisconsin this past December has been dismissed by the judge.
A brief moment of religious inclusiveness in Green Bay.
"...a Wisconsin federal district court dismissed an Establishment Clause challenge to a nativity scene displayed last year on the roof of the entrance to Green Bay's City Hall. Plaintiffs sought a declaratory judgment, an injunction and nominal damages. Without reaching the merits, the court concluded that plaintiffs lacked standing because "none of the relief they seek would redress the injuries they claim." City Council had already enacted a moratorium on all displays, until a policy is worked out in the future. Also the city took down the display at issue on December 26, just hours before this lawsuit was filed. The claim for nominal damages was not sufficient by itself to create standing."
This ruling isn't exactly a rousing victory for Mayor Jim Schmitt. While Green Bay won't have to pay damages, this "Christmas Wars" showdown hasn't endeared him to the local press, and even local clergy have told him to keep city hall secular.
"Mayor Jim Schmitt has met with clergy to get their ideas on a city policy. They agreed that the city should stick with secular decorations and leave the religious displays to area churches and synagogues."
This case has displayed the worst impulses of politicians. Enacting policy in order to "take the fight to" organizations they disagree with, inviting religious diversity to cover their tracks, and then insulting a local Wiccan organization (Circle Sanctuary) by refusing to replace a holiday display that had been vandalized. It makes one wish that Green Bay's mayor had the same good sense as Muskego's.
"You have to be respectful of all religions and if you start putting one display up, you have to put up displays for everybody," Muskego Mayor John Johnson said. "If you put up a Nativity scene and then a group asks you to put up a Hanukkah display or a display for the Muslim holiday, do you tell them no? You can't."
While the Freedom From Religion Foundation's suit was dismissed, they, and the Green Bay residents who filed with them, really won the larger battle. It seems very likely that Mayor Jim Schmitt and the city council will take the advice of local clergy and keep things secular this year. Avoiding future games of litigious "chicken" for the sake of proving that Green Bay is more Christian than Madison. Let's hope this case fizzling out will be a harbinger of the larger "War on Christmas" finally losing momentum among the punditocracy.
Labels: Circle Sanctuary, Green Bay, litigation, Nativity Display, Pentacle, Religion Clause, War on Christmas, Wisconsin
9.14.2008
Possible Postponement in Green Bay Nativity Case?
Opening oral arguments are supposed to begin tomorrow in a lawsuit over a nativity scene installed at the Green Bay city hall building, but the Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed a motion to delay after learning that Mayor Jim Schmitt is planning to present a new holiday display plan to the city council in October.
"Based on comments to the media by the Green Bay mayor indicating the city may adopt a policy to place only secular decorations at City Hall, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has asked the judge to delay oral arguments scheduled for Monday, Sept. 15, in its Green Bay nativity scene lawsuit."
It seems that Schmitt has been meeting with local clergy, and they have been telling him to keep city hall secular.
"Mayor Jim Schmitt has met with clergy to get their ideas on a city policy. They agreed that the city should stick with secular decorations and leave the religious displays to area churches and synagogues."
A peaceful (and secular) solution to this issue would most likely be in Schmitt's best interests at this point. Local commentators seem to have lost patience for this "unseemly circus".
"Remember this all started after the city of Peshtigo received a letter from the foundation protesting a nativity display in a public park, and then-council president Chad Fradette and other aldermen decided, in Fradette's words, "So now the Freedom From Religion Foundation can pick on somebody a little larger than Peshtigo." This reckless action — which had everything to do with picking a fight and precious little with the meaning of Christmas — reaches its logical conclusion Monday as oral arguments begin in the foundation's lawsuit against the city."
This "picked fight" between Green Bay and the Freedom From Religion Foundation sucked several minority religious groups, including Wiccans, into the fray, and resulted in some anti-Pagan vandalism.
"Someone who vandalized a Wiccan wreath atop City Hall early today fled the scene, but left a ladder behind. At 12:43 a.m., a Green Bay police officer was flagged down by a citizen who was driving by and reported seeing someone on a ladder at Green Bay City Hall, 100 N. Jefferson St., taking down a holiday decoration ..."
Here's hoping that a drawn-out court battle can be avoided, and the city sees the value in not favoring one form of religious expression over another.
Labels: Christianity, Circle Sanctuary, Green Bay, litigation, Nativity Display, Paganism, Pentacle, War on Christmas, Wisconsin
8.09.2008
Green Bay Nativity Battle Heads to Court
Last winter's saga concerning a Nativity display, the Green Bay City Council, and a vandalized Wiccan wreath is finally heading to court on September 15th.
"The Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation and the Liberty Counsel will face off next month in federal court over the nativity display installed at Green Bay City Hall last Christmas season. Oral arguments are to begin at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 15 before federal Judge William Griesbach at the federal court building, 125 S. Jefferson St., Green Bay. The Freedom From Religion Foundation and 14 area residents are suing the city of Green Bay, Mayor Jim Schmitt and former City Council President Chad Fradette over the display. With the suit, filed at the end of last year, the foundation seeks a court order forbidding the city from installing a religious display on public property, whatever further relief the court deems fair, and costs and attorney fees for the action."
To briefly sum up the story, the Green Bay City Council decided to put up a Nativity display on top of the city hall building after the Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation threatened a smaller Wisconsin town to take their Nativity scene down (they did). In an attempt to protect themselves from litigation, Mayor Jim Schmitt announced that any religious group that wanted to place their own display next to the Nativity could do so. That's where the Wiccans come in.
Green Bay employee installing a Wiccan wreath.
"A Wiccan symbol now stands alongside the Christmas manger scene above Green Bay City Hall's northwest entrance. The new display is an evergreen wreath, about 3 feet in diameter, around a five-pointed star. It's called a pentacle, and it is a symbol in the Wiccan religion, which is associated with witchcraft. Wicca is a nature-based religion based on respect for the earth, nature and the cycle of the seasons."
The Pentacle wreath was donated by Wisconsin-based Circle Sanctuary, but no sooner had the Pagan display gone up, when it was vandalized in the night. The wreath only sustained minor damage, but instead of replacing it, Mayor Jim Schmidt decided that only the Nativity could stay up (he also claimed he had no idea the wreath was donated by Pagan Witches), and no other religious displays would be allowed until they could "develop a set of guidelines". Discussion of new guidelines wasn't given a date, and the Nativity stayed up alone until December 26th. City Council President Chad Fradette was obviously spoiling for a legal showdown.
"After the vote, Fradette declared, "I'm trying to take this fight to the people who need to be fought. I'll keep going on this until this group imposing Madison values crawls back into its hole and never crawls out." Fradette also warned that he would reach out to the Alliance Defense Fund and the Liberty Counsel for legal assistance in helping him defend the display."
Well the "Green Bay values" versus "Madison values" battle royal is finally here, with the Religious Right organization the Liberty Council representing the city of Green Bay. Will the case be dismissed? Will Green Bay be forced to keep it secular this Winter? Stay tuned for further developments. I may even decide to drive down from Milwaukee and see this clash of the titans for myself!
Labels: Christianity, Circle Sanctuary, Green Bay, litigation, Nativity Display, Paganism, Pentacle, War on Christmas, Wisconsin
12.26.2007
Christmas is Over, But Public Display Battles Rage On
Usually the "Christmas Wars" die down quickly once the calendar hits December 26th, but this time around religious minorities (and various Church-State organizations) aren't going gently into that good night. In Green Bay, where a controversial Nativity display was at first announced to be interfaith, but then restricted to a solely Christian display, a lawsuit has been filed.
"The Nativity scene at Green Bay City Hall will come down today, but the controversy it created won't go away anytime soon. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Madison-based group that advocates for the separation of church and state, and 12 Green Bay residents moved to file a lawsuit Monday challenging the display on the roof of a City Hall entrance. The lawsuit claims the display depicting the birth of Jesus is an unconstitutional governmental endorsement of religion. It claims City Council President Chad Fradette and Mayor Jim Schmitt allowed the display to provoke and marginalize those who would object."
The charge of provocation is easily proven, since Fradette went on record as saying the Nativity display was meant to start a fight.
"I'm trying to take this fight to the people who need to be fought. I'll keep going on this until this group imposing Madison values crawls back into its hole and never crawls out."
Also damning to Green Bay's City Council is the revocation of an interfaith display (while leaving the Nativity up), including the refusal to restore a vandalized wreath donated by Wisconsin Wiccan organization Circle Sanctuary. Mayor Jim Schmitt later claimed he had no idea Wicca meant Witchcraft and that such a display wouldn't be appropriate near a Nativity. The situation has become so heated that some are suggesting drastic measures.
"Only Christians should be obliged to pay taxes in Green Bay as the ignorant bigots running that city appear to represent them and only them. Perhaps non-Christians in Green Bay should go on a taxpayers strike!"
But instead of a taxpayers strike, perhaps groups in Green Bay might want to pay attention to what is happening in Ohio, where a similar set of circumstances have transpired.
"Zoroastrians and pagans, both claiming roles for their faiths in the Christmas tradition, won't stop fighting to have their nontraditional holiday displays placed alongside nativity scenes in Ohio state parks. Efforts by both have so far been rejected by the administration of Gov. Ted Strickland, an ordained Methodist minister, who recently ordered Christian creches placed back in two state parks that had disallowed them due to religious concerns."
But instead of localizing the battle to the Winter festivals, a local resident is preparing to take the fight over public displays of religion into the Spring.
"Tammy Miller was thwarted in her attempt this year to have the parks also display the "happy humanist" of the Humanists, whose philosophy favors human rationality and morality over belief in a higher power. She said she is now preparing a Wiccan pentagram, with help from Tarot card artist Robin Wood, that she wants to see displayed on the next pagan holiday, Imbolc, in February."
Now that is some creative thinking! If these State and City governments want to "put Christ back into Christmas" so badly, let them, so long as they will allow us to put the Samhain back into Halloween. Flood representatives who insist on their "legal" Nativity displays to respect our need to see Pagan religions properly honored (legally of course) on the same property. Their refusals will only weaken whatever case they had for erecting Christian displays in December.
Legal pressures can be married with social pressures until these officials realize they don't preside over a "Christian nation". They are supposed to represent every religious manifestation (not to mention those who choose to not have a religious manifestation), not privilege a majority faith in order to score political points. Public displays must be open to all (Nativity + Menorah doesn't equal diversity), or they shouldn't happen at all. No doubt 2008 is going to be spent arguing this very question.
Labels: Christianity, Green Bay, law, litigation, Nativity Display, Ohio, Paganism, Religious Freedom, War on Christmas, Wisconsin
12.19.2007
The Green Bay Nativity and the Bigger Picture
Last night the Green Bay City Council decided to not reinstall the damaged Wiccan Pentacle wreath, or to place any other symbol (religious or secular) on city property until they could "develop a set of guidelines". In the meantime, the Nativity display stays up alone, and will remain so until December 26th.
"Passions ran deep on both sides of the issue Tuesday as Christians, non-Christians and the City Council debated what to do about the nativity display placed on City Hall last week. Twenty-seven members of the public spoke, with some praising the city for putting up the nativity scene and others condemning it for excluding other faiths and nonbelievers ... Mike Layden, also of Green Bay, told the council, "If I were a Hindu - and I'm not - and I had to pay my water bill and walk under that overhang, I'd be terribly insulted. ... I'd say, 'Did I make a mistake in coming here? Does this country still respect the sanctity of the constitution?'" Some also criticized the acts of the mayor and Advisory Committee for agreeing last week to put it up."
It looks like Green Bay is trying to have its cake and eat it too. Develop inclusive display rules before they get smacked with lawsuits from the ACLU, Americans United, or the Freedom From Religion Foundation, while keeping the Nativity display up (alone) in order to please their Christian constituents. Lest anyone think the Nativity was an act of simple piety, remember that Green Bay City Council President Chad Fradette has admitted that this action was his official entry into the "Christmas Wars".
"After the vote, Fradette declared, "I'm trying to take this fight to the people who need to be fought. I'll keep going on this until this group imposing Madison values crawls back into its hole and never crawls out." Fradette also warned that he would reach out to the Alliance Defense Fund and the Liberty Counsel for legal assistance in helping him defend the display. Those groups are renowned for carping about an-out-of-control secular America trying to yank Christianity from the public square."
The situation has gained enough national attention that pundits like Alan Colmes (Fox) have been weighing in, and other towns are counting themselves lucky to not be involved in these Nativity battles.
"Things have been pretty quiet on the local front lines of the "War on Christmas." Other places in the U.S. couldn't escape the fray, however, as folks just had to find one more layer of stress to add to the holiday season."
Meanwhile, the ACLU defends itself against "anti-Christian" charges, and lays out its legal philosophy on what separates a Constitutional Nativity display from an un-Constitutional one.
"For instance, Christmas displays -- including nativity scenes -- are perfectly acceptable at homes, churches and even, in some cases, on city property ... the federal courts have ruled that religious displays are permissible on government property so long as, when viewed as a whole, a reasonable observer would view the display as having a secular purpose, not a religious purpose."
A legal test that Green Bay would most likely fail at this point. Green Bay has lapsed in its duty to think not only of the dominant religious sentiment, but of the host of religious minorities within its borders. It troubles itself with what it can get away with instead of working to bring everyone to the table.
"Today, the twin principles of "no establishment" and "free exercise" are meant to guarantee what the Flushing Remonstrance sought: religious freedom as a fundamental, inalienable right for every person. But legal protections can never be sufficient to ensure full religious freedom. In real-life conflicts, religious freedom often means little unless ordinary citizens speak up for the rights of others, including members of the smallest minorities and least-popular communities. When government officials ignore the rights of minority faiths - in a town opposed to an Islamic center, in a public school hostile to Wiccan children, in a court that ignores Native American religious claims - will those at the helm stand up for those in the hatches?"
No doubt Green Bay's "Christmas present" to its residents will very likely result in litigation come the new year, with a resulting bill that will come due for every tax-payer in the city. All so one strutting man could place a plastic Jesus on the local government's roof, and taunt an atheist organization.
Labels: Christianity, Christmas, Circle Sanctuary, Green Bay, Paganism, Pentacle, War on Christmas, Wisconsin
12.17.2007
You Saw This One Coming
As if by clockwork, last night a man tried to removed the Pentacle wreath on top of the Green Bay City Hall which was placed next to a controversial Nativity scene.
"Someone who vandalized a Wiccan wreath atop City Hall early today fled the scene, but left a ladder behind. At 12:43 a.m., a Green Bay police officer was flagged down by a citizen who was driving by and reported seeing someone on a ladder at Green Bay City Hall, 100 N. Jefferson St., taking down a holiday decoration ... The suspect was described as a white male, 5-foot-10 to 6 feet, between 150 and 170 pounds, wearing a gray parka-type jacket and gray hat with ear flaps. The ladder was left at the scene. The wreath was taken down and found behind the shrubs. There was minor damage to the wreath. There was no other damage to the other decorations or the building. This incident remains under investigation."
Luckily the wreath was on top of a roof, so the suspect couldn't simply back a truck over it. Perhaps religiously-motivated vandalism is how Green Bay shows how its different from their more cosmopolitan neighbors in Madison and Milwaukee? In any case, it remains to be seen if this incident will affect the decision-making at the special City Council meeting on Tuesday. Will they decide to call the whole thing off like Olean did?
ADDENDUM: Looks like Green Bay isn't handling this situation too well...
"In an about face, Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmidt says no one else will be able to put symbols on Green Bay City Hall for right now. The mayor told several people who showed up at City Hall with symbols today that news. Those people weren't happy ... One woman who showed up Monday asked how a 'Pagan Pentacle' ended up on City Hall if she wasn't going to be allowed to add her symbol. Another told the mayor if her symbol couldn't go up, everything would have to come down ... Mayor Schmidt says until the city council debates the proposed guidelines tomorrow night, the city will not allow new symbols on City Hall."
Looks like a lot of unhappy people will be awaiting the outcome of Tuesday's meeting.
Labels: Christianity, Christmas, Circle Sanctuary, Green Bay, Nativity Display, Paganism, Pentacle, War on Christmas, Wisconsin
12.16.2007
Return of the Holiday Pentacle Saga!
While vandals and controversy may have ended the display of a festive holiday Pentacle in Olean, NY, it looks like the story will continue in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Green Bay employee installing a Wiccan wreath.
"A Wiccan symbol now stands alongside the Christmas manger scene above Green Bay City Hall's northwest entrance. The new display is an evergreen wreath, about 3 feet in diameter, around a five-pointed star. It's called a pentacle, and it is a symbol in the Wiccan religion, which is associated with witchcraft. Wicca is a nature-based religion based on respect for the earth, nature and the cycle of the seasons."
This comes after the Green Bay City Council decided to thumb their noses ("tell the Madison people that Madison values need to stay in Madison") at the Freedom From Religion Foundation for challenging a Nativity display in a small Wisconsin town. In order to maintain a veneer of legality, Green Bay invited other religious groups to contribute their own symbols to the display. Nearby Circle Sanctuary (who provided the wreath), is the first to take Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt up on the offer.
"When I learned that Mayor Jim Schmitt publicly invited the contributions of other expressions of faith, I decided that our church should offer to contribute a Yule wreath with pentacle to the holidays display. Our pentacle wreath represents our celebration of Yuletide and the new solar year, and also is part of our observance of Interfaith Awareness Week in Wisconsin which we have been celebrating all week," - Rev. Selena Fox, Senior Minister of Circle Sanctuary.
The question now is will it stay up? The Green Bay City Council has scheduled a meeting this coming Tuesday to discuss the resolution installing the Nativity, and if the Council acted properly in approving Council President Chad Fradette's request/vendetta. The Freedom From Religion Foundation (which is based in Madison, Wisconsin) says that if the "legally messy situation" isn't cleaned up at Tuesday's meeting, they will bring forth litigation against the city. In the meantime, Hindu, Unitarian-Universalist, and Buddhist groups have all approached Green Bay in order to have their own symbols placed next to the Nativity (requests the City says they have to honor since they haven't drawn up any guidelines regarding holiday displays). So it looks like Green Bay will have some interesting times in the coming weeks.
PS - For a lighter side to the Pentacle/Nativity controversies, the Pagan-themed comic "Oh My Gods" has released two strips inspired by these recent news events. Part one. Part two.
Labels: Christianity, Christmas, Circle Sanctuary, Green Bay, Nativity Display, Paganism, Pentacle, War on Christmas, Wisconsin
