Why doesn’t the manger scene have a baby Jesus?
“We try to explain that by law we can’t do that. We have been advised by (city) council not to get into that,” said David Cunningham, superintendent of St. Albans City Park.
Instead, there is a scene that looks remarkably like depictions of the night Jesus Christ was born. There’s a star, a couple of sheep, some camels and a structure that could be taken for the barn where Mary and Joseph had their baby.
“You could call it a manger,” he said. “We call it a place for the animals. It looks like two things coming up on the sides with a roof-like structure. What it looks like depends on your imagination.
A rather brilliant observation posted via Fark.com seems to sum it up better then I ever could:
2006-11-30 04:45:09 PM IdBeCrazyIf
Number40: And to remove Christ from the mix? You gotta be kidding me!
Well… to be fair. It’s not like Christians were using Christ for anything important anyway.
Lord knows they certainly don’t actually listen to what he says.
Isn’t it interesting that a secular society can more clearly see the teachings of Jesus then the church can? Jesus came, he basically took on a religious system that controlled people’s lives (While robbing them blind) and called people to love each other while, moment by moment, listening to and following the voice of God. His disciples demanded to be put at the helm of a new system — and Jesus refused to even name the president or define it’s structure.
He was barely gone before we had a new religious system — run by a dude we call the pope, an organization we call the synod or whatever — and a new set of rules to back an organization that, once again, is usually about money. Worst of all, it’s not about love, grace or freedom.
“It’s not like Christians were using Christ for anything important anyway. Lord knows they certainly don’t actually listen to what he says.”
Yep — Guilty as charged.
BTW: The town officials are using the law to hide their real addenda. The Supreme Court long ago ruled that creches, complete with baby Jesus, do not violate the constitution, so long as they are part of an otherwise secular holiday display. The ruling basically said that Christmas is a secular shopping holiday and that cities have an interest in promoting secular shopping holidays via holiday displays.
