Here We Go Again

With another Christmas season just around the corner, the God, country and freedom-haters are once again gearing up to try and stamp Christ out of Christmas. They will, of course, fail miserably, but that isn't going to prevent them from trying:

John Satawa's family has displayed a nativity scene on a street median in Warren, Mich., virtually every Christmas season since 1945, but following an intimidating letter sent by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, Satawa's county has put stop to the 63-year-old tradition.

The Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation proclaims its purpose in the letter to the Road Commission of Macomb County was to "protect the fundamental constitutional principle of separation of church and state."

But Satawa contends there's nothing unconstitutional about his privately owned and maintained Christmas display. With the help of the Thomas More Law Center, Satawa has filed a case in U.S. district court asking the judge to declare the county's crèche rejection unconstitutional instead and order officials to permit its display.

But in December of 2008, the Freedom from Religion Foundation sent the county a complaint letter.

It read, in part, "When the county displays this manger scene, which depicts the legendary birth of Jesus Christ, it places in imprimatur of the Macomb County government behind the Christian religious doctrine. This excludes citizens who are not Christian – Jews, Native American religion practitioners, animists, etc., as well as the significant and growing population that is not religious at all."

But Satawa contends there's nothing unconstitutional about his privately owned and maintained Christmas display. With the help of the Thomas More Law Center, Satawa has filed a case in U.S. district court asking the judge to declare the county's crèche rejection unconstitutional instead and order officials to permit its display.

You will find the entire WorldNetDaily story here.

I fully expect Mr. Satawa will prevail in this matter, given past Supreme Court rulings. I just find it sad, and not a little infuriating, that an American citizen has to go the trouble and expense of going to court to assert his constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression.

I also condemn the unfortunate action taken by the Road Commission of Macomb County for their having spinelessly caved in to the Freedom from Religion Foundation, apparently without bothering to educate themselves as to the relevant laws involved.

This unfortunate affair is a reminder to all of us as to just how fragile our hard-won freedoms and liberties truly are, and that we must remain vigilant at all times, lest we wake up one morning only to realize we have lost them forever.