[Vision2020] Atheists Want Sign at Capitol

[Tom Hansen]

“In this holiday season let us remember that kindness, charity and
goodwill transcend belief, creed or religion.”

Courtesy of today's (December 6, 2009) Spokesman Review.

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Atheists want sign at Capitol
Seattle group’s request coincides with tree-lighting

OLYMPIA – A Seattle-based atheists group asked state officials Friday for
permission to display a placard outdoors on the Capitol campus over the
holidays.

Jerry Schiffelbein, the treasurer for Seattle Atheists and an activist in
other “free-thought” groups that advocate separation between church and
state, said the sign’s message is less provocative than those that the
Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation put up last year.

The proposed 18-by-30-inch sign says, “In this holiday season let us
remember that kindness, charity and goodwill transcend belief, creed or
religion.”

The request to put up the sign came the day that state officials lit up a
48-foot holiday tree inside the domed Capitol rotunda, a yearly tradition
now entirely under state sponsorship. The evening event featured Gov.
Chris Gregoire; Army Staff Sgt. Stephanie McDowell, who recently returned
from Iraq; and a children’s chorale.

The atheists’ request – just like two requests to display a Jewish menorah
Thursday through Dec. 19 – will be considered under the state policy
adopted after last December’s ruckus over holiday displays inside the
Capitol, Department of General Administration spokesman Steve Valandra
said Friday. He expects a decision on the requests Monday.

“We thought we would get more requests. There is still time,” he said.

Last December, the GA declared a moratorium because it had about a dozen
requests from groups wanting to put up displays, and a third-floor area
for displays was getting crowded. The GA had approved a half-dozen of the
requests, including a Nativity set, an atheist placard that mocked
religion as superstition, Christian placards that mocked atheism, and a
9-foot menorah.

Requests halted by the moratorium included a “Festivus” pole from the mock
holiday celebrated on the TV show “Seinfeld,” a “flying spaghetti
monster,” and one from a Kansas church that assails homosexuality.

Before the controversy ended, someone stole the atheists’ placard.
Thousands of complaints flooded the governor’s office and the GA after a
national television commentator condemned the state for allowing the
atheists’ display near the Nativity scene.

The GA has approved one display request so far this year. It was one of
two submitted by Chabad Jewish Discovery Center in Olympia for a 9-foot
menorah. The approved request is for Sylvester Park, a state-owned
property in downtown Olympia; the other is for a menorah next to the
Tivoli Fountain on the campus lawn.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown