The Freedom From Religion Foundation will place its Winter Solstice banner in Boston Common (Boston, Mass.) today at 2 p.m. to counter an inappropriate nativity scene on park property.
FFRF Senior Staff Attorney Rebecca Markert has worked diligently to secure a permit for a location near the publicly placed nativity scene. FFRF’s display will be on the common near Tremont/Park Street.
“It is our hope that one day government spaces will be free from religious — or irreligious — displays, but until then we will do our best to counter these devotional displays on public property and remind passersby of the ‘real reason for the season’ — the Winter Solstice,” said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.
FFRF is a national state/church watchdog with over 19,000 members nationwide, including more than 400 in Massachusetts.
The banner states: “At this Season of the Winter Solstice, LET REASON PREVAIL. There are not gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth & superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”
The Winter Solstice, the shortest and darkest day of the year, takes place this year on Friday, Dec. 21. This natural holiday signals the return of the sun and the new year, and has been celebrated for millennia in the Northern Hemisphere with festivals of light, evergreens, feasts and gift exchanges.
This same message is going up across the country this holiday season.
