On Monday, the “Wall of Separation” examined a new poll that shows shrinking numbers of Americans believing in the claims of a “war on Christmas.”
While the war on Christmas has always been mythical, there is a real war that often surfaces at this time of year: a war on tolerance, diversity and equal treatment.
Consider two recent examples:
In New Hampshire, members of the Satanic Temple secured a permit to erect a statue of Baphomet, a goat-headed figure temple members say represents reason and free inquiry, near the statehouse in Concord. The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization, has displayed a nativity scene in the same area in December for years, so this was just a matter of fairness.
Unfortunately, some people had trouble grasping the concept of equal treatment. The statue was only in place three days before it was vandalized. While he condemned the vandalism, Concord Mayor Byron Champlin insisted that the Temple “is not a religion” and that the display was intended to “drive an anti-religious agenda.”
It’s not Champlin’s job to determine what qualifies as a religion and what doesn’t. It might also interest him to learn that the Satanic Temple, a group that views Satan as a metaphor for resistance to dogma and that opposes blind adherence to religious authority, has received tax-exempt status as a religious organization from the Internal Revenue Service.
A better take came from New Hampshire Rep. Ellen Read, who supported the Temple. Read told New Hampshire Public Radio, “One of our most sacred things as a country is our First Amendment and the idea that we do not have establishment of religion. On public grounds, if you’re representing one religion, you have to represent all.”
The story has a happy ending: A group of local artists came together and rebuilt the Temple’s display. They even reinforced it to make it harder to vandalize.
In Iowa, state officials have denied the Satanic Temple the right to erect a display and hold an event at the capitol in Des Moines, on the dubious grounds that the display is obscene and harmful to children.
It’s hard to see how the display, which was to feature an inverted pentagram, poinsettias and depiction of the head of Baphomet, is either of these things. It certainly wouldn’t meet the legal definition of obscenity, and it’s hard to argue that an image of an upside-down star, some flowers and a goat head harm children. (A similar display was erected in the statehouse last year until it was – you guessed it – vandalized.)
Officials in both New Hampshire and Iowa have made it clear that they want to extend preference and privilege to some religions (ones they like) while denying those same things to other faiths (ones they don’t like).
Someone ought to tell them our First Amendment doesn’t work that way. Americans United’s guiding principle makes this clear: The answer is freedom without favor and equality without exception.
Photo: The Satanic Temple’s display in the Iowa Statehouse, December 2023
