The Freedom From Religion Foundation is once again making its freethinking presence known in the legislative heart of the Hawkeye State.
For the fifth year in a row, FFRF’s Bill of Rights “nativity” has been installed in the Iowa state Capitol. The display depicts three Founders along with the Statue of Liberty gazing in adoration at a “baby” Bill of Rights.
A sign beside 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 that there can be no religious freedom without the freedom to dissent.
Keep religion and government separate!
The exhibit made its debut five years ago in response to a Christian nativity scene that went up that year for the first time in the Capitol. Then-Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad was among those who spoke at the opening ceremony for the religious display, lending an official air of religious endorsement to the proceedings.
FFRF would like to thank member Paul Novak, an FFRF state representative, for putting up the exhibit.
The display is up till Dec. 18.
“Religious displays can’t be allowed to monopolize the public space,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor says. “As we always say, if a governmental body creates a public forum for religion, there must be room at the inn for dissenting viewpoints.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national state/church watchdog organization that has over 35,000 members nationwide, including hundreds of members in Iowa. Its purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.