Members of the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s Washington South Sound Chapter have returned to the state Capitol grounds with a new exhibit for this year.
The display, set up near the Tivoli Fountain on the Capitol premises in Olympia, Wash., is FFRF’s 6-foot-tall whimsical Bill of Rights “nativity.” The irreverent graphic by artist Jacob Fortin depicts Founders Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington kneeling in adoration before a “baby” Bill of Rights in a manger. Displayed near the freethinking exhibit are both a nativity scene and a Hanukkah Menorah.
In the picture from left to right are Priscilla Rose, Darrell Barker (brother of FFRF Co-President Dan Barker), Deb & Rod Tinnemore, Peter Johansson, Linda & Lewis Foerster and Matt Simons, known together as “The Oly Grail,” a secular group of friends.
The tongue-in-cheek nativity reads:
At this Season of the Winter Solstice
Join us in honoring the Bill of Rights, adopted on December 15, 1791, which reminds us there can be no religious freedom without the freedom to dissent.
Keep religion and government separate!
“Our sign is a reminder of the real reason for the season: the Winter Solstice,” FFRF Co-President Dan Barker says. “Anyone and everyone can celebrate the Solstice. December is not owned by Christians.”
The display was put up on Sunday, Dec. 17, and will be in place until December 23.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with 40,000 members and several chapters across the country, including more than 1,700 members and two chapters (Unfettered Freethinkers of South Sound and Inland Northwest Freethought Society) in Washington. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
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To become an FFRF member, click here. To learn more about FFRF, request information here.
