The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s Washington South Sound Chapter has returned to the state Capitol grounds with an exhibit for the 18th year in a row.
The display, set up near the Tivoli Fountain on the Capitol premises in Olympia, Wash., is FFRF’s 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.
The display has been erected to counter a Christian nativity at the Capitol and is available for viewing through the New Year. FFRF wants to thank member and volunteer Darrell Barker for his help in putting up the exhibit. In the above picture from left to right are Barker, Lewis Foerster and Rachel C.
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!
“Wherever there are Christian displays, we will be there, too,” FFRF Co-President Dan Barker says. “There has to be ‘room at the inn’ for all perspectives.”
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.
