Related articles and links |  1 of 6

Nativity out but other "secular" religious symbols okay, says judge
The rule on religious expression and government property generally works like this: acknowledge one religion, and you have to be open to acknowledging them all.

This is the philosophy the New York City Department of Education used when it set up its holiday display with every possible symbol: a Christmas tree, menorahs, dreidels, a crescent and star, a Kwanzaa candelabra, Christmas wreaths and bells, Santa Claus, and a snowman.

Andrea Skoros, a mother from Queens, noted something missing: a crèche. "I just think that if you're going to put up religious symbols, then you have to respect all religions," she explained. "If you have Jewish and Muslim symbols, then it's not enough for Catholics to have a Christmas tree. We should be able to display the Nativity scene, too."

Ah, but not so fast, said a federal judge ruled yesterday. None of the current displays are religious. The menorah and crescent and star may have a religious history to them, but they "have developed significant secular connotations," Judge Charles Sifton said. Not so with the Nativity, which is "purely religious." (No word on which category the cross would fall into.)

"I don't understand how [Sifton] can say a menorah is not a religious symbol," said Skoros, who had also complained that her sons were taught the story of Chanukah, but not Christmas. "That blows my mind." Not that she expected to win. "I didn't think that a judge in New York state would rule in favor of Christians," she told the New York Post. "It's too liberal. They're worried about hurting everybody's feelings."

Skoros is backed by the Thomas More Law Center, and plans to appeal.

Is Christian television irresponsible?
Daystar Television Network, a Christian satellite network based in Dallas, is challenging the high-profile sale of KOCE-TV, a public television station in Orange County, California. According to legal experts consulted by the Los Angeles Times, it looks like it might have a case: it offered more money—in cash—than the foundation that bought the station. Trustees say they followed the law, which required a sale to the "highest responsible bidder."

Eh? There's the matter of whether cash is better than a promissory note (which would you rather have?), but that may not be enough. "The only way they could justify it is to say the other one is not responsible," Stanford Law School professor Michael Klausner told the paper.

And that's the case made by Costa Mesa resident Lynn Merles in a letter to the Times. For her, a sale to a religious station would have been irresponsible. "KOCE-TV, should remain a public service TV channel, not the spokesman for religion," she wrote. "It's bad enough that several theaters in the area have been bought by churches. We don't need religion forced down our throats — we should choose it. I resent having a Mormon poem on my food tray when I fly Alaska Airlines. [Uh, aren't those cards on Alaska Airlines just Bible verses?] Next time I'd like a Jewish poem, not that I'm religious, but I would like that or agnostic poem or something else."

James ossuary:

• Fake ossuary leads Israel to look into sellers of antiquities | An Israeli documentary Wednesday claimed the James ossuary, the ancient burial box bearing a discredited inscription mentioning Jesus, is just the tip of a long-running forgery ring that has duped antiquities collectors worldwide for the last 15 years (USA Today)
  
  
• Television report says 'Jesus ossuary' owner ran fraud ring | Oded Golan, who is suspected of forging the inscription "James the brother of Jesus," on a first century ossuary, worked with a ring of counterfeiters who sold dozens of forged articles to antiquities dealers and collectors, Channel 2's "Fact" program reports (Ha'aretz, Tel Aviv)
  
  

next page... |  1 of 6

February (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48