The Freedom From Religion Foundation is once again standing up for religious liberty in Parkersburg, W.Va..
A pagan organization was discriminatorily barred from participating in the city’s Christmas Parade on Dec. 7. FFRF was alerted to this constitutional violation after the Appalachian Pagan Ministry reported being denied participation despite meeting all application requirements. The city of Parkersburg sponsors the annual Christmas Parade. Applications are provided through the city’s official website, where the event is also heavily promoted. The Appalachian Pagan Ministry reportedly received an email from Lori Ullman-Roberts and John Chalfant, who coordinate the event, stating that “after communication with the mayor of Parkersburg entry to the Parkersburg Christmas Parade is being refused.”
FFRF is familiar with Parkersburg, since it won a lawsuit against the city in 2022 that ended recitation of the Lord’s Prayer at every City Council meeting.
The Appalachian Pagan Ministry is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving pagan and Earth-centered spiritual communities. Through prison outreach, public education and community-building efforts, the ministry works to create a more inclusive and understanding world for all faiths. The ministry reports that it was told the problem was its pagan identity and because “[its] website states [it] works with satanists.”
“Singling out a religious denomination by denying them an opportunity to participate in a city-sponsored Christmas Parade, despite allowing similarly situated religious groups to participate, amounts to a clear violation of the First Amendment,” FFRF Legal Counsel Chris Line writes in a complaint letter to Mayor Tom Joyce. FFRF’s letter included an open records request seeking the city’s communications regarding the Christmas Parade and the discriminatory denial to the Appalachian Pagan Ministry.
It’s ironic that the group is being barred from a Christmas parade for its pagan beliefs because Christmas itself derives from pagan celebrations linked to ancient Roman and Norse traditions surrounding the Winter Solstice, the darkest day of the year, now occurring typically on Dec. 21, FFRF points out. For millennia, our ancestors in the Northern Hemisphere have greeted this seasonal event — marking the symbolic rebirth of the Sun, the lengthening of the days and the natural New Year — with festivals of light, gift exchanges and seasonal gatherings.
While the ministry was unjustly excluded from this year’s parade, FFRF is working to ensure that there’s no discrimination against religious minorities in the future.
“The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion and prohibits government favoritism toward any particular faith or belief system,” says Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “If the government is going to put on an event like this, there has to be ‘room at the inn’ for all comers.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 40,000 members across the country, including members in West Virginia. 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.
