A secular display by the Freedom From Religion Foundation will share space in the Mini-Park with a Christmas tree in Keyport, N.J.
FFRF, a national state/church watchdog, is pleased to report that after a long debate by the Keyport Borough Council, fairness won. The display is a cutout by artist Jacob Fortin that depicts Founders Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington gazing adoringly at a “baby” Bill of Rights in a manger while the Statue of Liberty looks on. A sign beside the tongue-in-cheek Bill of Rights 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!
Patrick Trischitta, a member of FFRF, stood up to speak on behalf of the display, convincing the council members that in a public forum, the space belongs to everyone and inclusion was patriotic.
“We’re delighted that with the help of our members, we’re able to offer the freethought perspective here in New Jersey,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “If there’s going to be religion in the public square, there needs to be ‘room at the inn’ for nonreligion.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a nationwide nonprofit organization dedicated to the constitutional separation of state and church, with over 35,000 members across the country, including over 700 in New Jersey.