The Freedom From Religion Foundation has entered the holiday display fray at the Michigan Capitol in Lansing. A local member of FFRF put up a display today to accompany a nativity scene and the Satanic Temple’s “snaketivity” display on the capitol lawn.
The prominent state/church watchdog, the nation’s largest association of freethinkers (atheists and agnostics), is placing the display on behalf of its more than 550 Michigan members. It contains the seasonal adage of FFRF founder Anne Nicol Gaylor:
At this season of the Winter Solstice, let reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.
The Winter Solstice, which occurred Sunday, is the shortest, darkest day of the year, signaling the rebirth of the sun and the natural new year. It’s been celebrated for millennia with festivals of light, feasts, gift exchanges and the display of evergreens, which symbolize enduring life.
“We’d vastly prefer to keep religion — and irreligion — out of the seat of state government. The Capitol ought to be above the fray of religious divisiveness. But if public officials unwisely decide to permit religious public forums, then there has to be ‘room at the inn’ for nonbelievers,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor explained.
FFRF’s display will go up this afternoon, briefly. All displays at the Michigan Capitol must be taken down each night, a rule implemented this year reportedly to deter undesirable displays. FFRF warmly thanks member Janet Colson for coordinating the display and doing the leg work.
