Spat over Christmas parade might end it | The Columbus Dispatch

[Reader]

proof reader wrote:

ok! thats mean! its ceen called Christmas for a long time!!!! and people will still call it the Christmas parade for a long time!

And as long as it is privately funded they can continue to do so. But, if they are going to expect the city to pick up the tab, well they gotta play by a different set or rules.

[MSR]

Christmas parades usually center on "Santa Claus" not the baby Jesus so I don't understand what the problem is since Santa is not a religious symbol.

[claw71]

MSR wrote:

Christmas parades usually center on "Santa Claus" not the baby Jesus so I don't understand what the problem is since Santa is not a religious symbol.

Santa eh? Let's just rearrange those letters here. S-A-T-A-N. Hmmm. What's that spell. Could it be SATAN?

Santa is the devil. He tempts us away from Jesus with toys and candy. You're all going to burn in hell.

[Joppy]

John wrote:

<quoted text>
What a silly argument to start a mindless little war pitting anyone who disagrees with you as an athiest.
Religious education, by chance?
No wonder you're illiterate. You weren't taught to think for yourself.

You obviously disagree with me and are, therefore, an Atheist. And not that I'm hurt or anything, but what have I said to make me illiterate?

I'll have to stop there because the transmission from the Religious Right How-to-Think Transponder (or RRHTTT, as we like to call it) has been disrupted. Cheers!

[Joppy]

Reader wrote:

<quoted text>
Not quite in line a number of Supreme Court rulings on the topic. And, it's their job to interpret the Constitution and settle disagreements about what it does or does not mean in any particular situation.
The ACLU has a handy little fact sheet pertaining to gov't involvement in various displays, etc. that might prove helpful to understanding http://www.acluohio.org/issues/ReligiousLiber... .

Dear Reader

I guess I never thought about this until now, but I suppose you are right. The Supreme Court does the interpreting so we don't have to!

JCC

[Reader]

Joppy wrote:

<quoted text>
Dear Reader
I guess I never thought about this until now, but I suppose you are right. The Supreme Court does the interpreting so we don't have to!
JCC

The Supreme Court does the interpreting because we don't all agree on the interpretations. We appeal to the Supreme Court as the final arbiter. Part of the system of checks and balances, don'tcha know.

[John Galt]

Reader wrote:

<quoted text>
Not sure that the Supreme Court agrees with you on that one. What they would most likely consider is whether equal access to such funding is available across the board, or if this is a matter of giving preference to a single religious school of thought.

The Supremem Court historically has had no problem with government employees receiving Christmas Day off with pay... There is no such day generally for other religions.

[Reader]

John Galt wrote:

<quoted text>
The Supremem Court historically has had no problem with government employees receiving Christmas Day off with pay... There is no such day generally for other religions.

On the other hand, it is an across the board day off--with no requirement regarding what one does on that day. Accommodations generally must be provided to workers from other faiths with other holidays.

[John Galt]

Reader wrote:

<quoted text>
On the other hand, it is an across the board day off--with no requirement regarding what one does on that day. Accommodations generally must be provided to workers from other faiths with other holidays.

Still, it is a special day off for government employees to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The fact that a small minority choose not to is really not particularly relevant. It's still preference given to a religious majority at taxpayer expense.

[Reader]

John Galt wrote:

<quoted text>
Still, it is a special day off for government employees to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The fact that a small minority choose not to is really not particularly relevant. It's still preference given to a religious majority at taxpayer expense.

No--the same opportunity is granted to others of other religions to celebrate their holidays. The fact that the majority claim that particular holiday makes it difficult in most cases to accommodate and still maintain such things as keeping offices open.

[John Galt]

Reader wrote:

<quoted text>
No--the same opportunity is granted to others of other religions to celebrate their holidays. The fact that the majority claim that particular holiday makes it difficult in most cases to accommodate and still maintain such things as keeping offices open.

Good debate! I'll move on regarding this one...

[American Freedom]

claw71 wrote:

<quoted text>
You can have your Christmas parade, but then I want my Festivus Festival in the park and Donte wants a Kwanza Karnival. Seth wants a Dreidel Dance Revolution and Helga insists on a Pagan Pageant.
Come to think of it, it's probably best if we just call it a Holiday Parade and let everybody come together and celebrate the winter solstice, which is why Christians moved Christmas to December anyway.
We are a country of countless cultures and creeds. The government really needs to respect that, even if Christians can't.

That is the funniest thing I've read in days!!! And you are so right! Joy to the world meets We Are the World!! Yaaaaay. You're dead on about the winter solstice, and Dec. 25 was also Apollo's birthday (Apollo, son of Zeus), and it seems that Constantine changed Yeshua/Isa's name to Je-Zeus, means (son of- yious?- Zeus) to make Christianity more palatable for the Greeks/ Romans. Jesus never heard the name Jesus! He would have absolutely no idea what you're talking about...!

[Reader]

American Freedom wrote:

<quoted text>
Joy to the world meets We Are the World!!

Teehee :)

[Corrupt dem]

Invite D'Obama to the parade. There's no way the good little secular dems wouldn't fall all over themselves to throw the parade if D'Obama was going to be there.

[Corrupt repub]

Invite David Duke to the parade. There's no way the good little fundy repubs wouldn't fall all over themselves to throw the parade if David Duke was going to be there.

[Jeff]

I wonder why people think that everyone who thinks that the government shouldn't be funding a Christmas parade is an atheist. I'm a Christian, and, quite frankly, I don't want the government butting its nose into my religion. I have my faith, and I see no need for the government's approval or disapproval of that. If my church wants to have a parade, we'll pay for it. We're not asking the government to do that for us.

[Jim McElfresh]

We have a Christmas parade in Aurora, Indiana and have had for the past 10 years. The parade is funded by Triple Cord Ministry INC. It is not a large parade, however there is room for growth. We would like to volunteer our services to help you present your parade. That is a great time to present the Gospel and from some of the posted comments it is greatly needed.

[boatman]

carole wrote:

Amelia in the news

I live in southern KY, All the local newspapers have stories
about Amelia doing away with Christman, All local TV news are
running news stories about this. My son went to Glen Este High..........this is so sad !