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Of course, this won't end until there's a display of an angel falling into one of the pits of hell
By adamg on Sat, 12/06/2014 - 12:00pm
The Herald reports on the battle between the BPL board of trustees, who think it's dandy to decorate the main library with Christmas wreathes, and a Back Bay resident who wants to supplement the wreathes with a menorah.
The mayor, who appoints library trustees, has decided it's "not his place" to try to convince them otherwise.
Good ol' Joe Fitzgerald, who for years wrote an annual column about a Jew who loved Christmas, urges Hizzonah to light the first candle, not because of that pesky First Amendment or anything, but because it would help reinforce the Christian faith (the first Christians being Jews and all) and because a menorah would be a punch in the nose to those "militant secularists" who apparently are hiding under his bed waiting to wag their fingers at him.
Of course, Joe apparently hasn't heard what's going on in Florida - ironically based on court rulings won by the sort of people who insist the United States is a Christian nation.
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Comments
Do other cities have this
Do other cities have this problem during the holidays?
It seems to me that compared
It seems to me that compared to most of the country, Bostonians seem quite skeptical of and reluctant to join in the whole "War on Xmas" mishigas.
(I've always thought that trees and wreaths in particular seem strange traditions to get worked up about - their use in harvest and solstice festivals predates Christianity by ages.)
Paging Bill O'Really? Paging Bill O'Really?
Red Alert....Red Alert
WAR ON CHRISTMAS
There's ratings to be had.
BPL holiday decorations
They need a Spaghetti Monster, Festivus Pole, Krampus, Zwart Piet (well maybe not Zwart Piet-he's a bit racist), Baphomet with kids on his lap, et al. The more the merrier I say. Who cares as long as whatever display is not paid for by taxpayer dollars?
Holiday decorations
Please, it's Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Sorry!
Sorry about that!
Invisible Sky Man is not amused
Not even a little bit. He's made an all-eternity appointment for you guys in the hot Place.
Didn't Kramer convert to
Didn't Kramer convert to Festivus ? That could be faux pas...
krampus!
I'd be all for a Krampus display. That's definitely something we need to bring back as part of the holiday/solstice celebrations.
Well Happy
Well Happy Christmahannukwanzakah!
My one and only problem with this
Come the holiday I don't want to misspell, there will be a 2 story tall menorah right across the street from the library, erected on public land. I have no problem with the menorah being there, except possibly that for 8 days the Gibran memorial will be off limits. My point is that there will be a beautiful menorah very close by, practically echoing the wreaths.
More wreaths
Won't there be more secular wreaths and holiday trees nearby as well? asked she, a Christian?
Yes, but
I mean, it is a 20 foot tall menorah, directly across the street from the entrance, standing by its lonesomeness.
It's not like someone who is Jewish, or just a fan of the Maccabean revolt like myself, doesn't have anything in that block, on public land, to look at with pride.
Have you seen this menorah?
That said, a menorah at the library wouldn't bug me, except for my fears that the radical atheists will turn up next and ruin everything, like always.
Radical Atheists
You mean, like the founders who wanted religion separate from government?
No
I mean the twats who want religion to disappear from the public sphere.
You do realize that when the Constitution and Bill of Rights were passed, several states, including Massachusetts, had official religions. In wasn't until 1820 that MA disestablished the state religion.
Of course, most Americans haven't a clue what the separation of church and state is all about. Think England, where the head of state is head of the Anglican Church. Heck, in Germany religious instruction in schools is mandatory, and they are multidenominational. You think some wreaths and a menorah is that bad?
John WInthrop was as
John WInthrop was as religious as you could get and like most Puritans, advocated first for the separation of church and state. Please stop this reddit nonsense about the founding fathers being hardcore athiests when they were Diest or generally nonreligious because it makes them sound like this crap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slKULc8W7lM
It's a library and not a
It's a library and not a church or a temple.
Have you been in that library, though?
You might want to walk upstairs in the original library and look at the Sargent murals.
Mobile technologies/software for Boston Public Lib librarians.
Why are librarians restricted to desks/counters rather than using new technologies and software to walk among shelves while talking with library users. Shoe stores do it !
http://www.bpl.org/general/trustees/BPLtechplan2013-2016.pdf
http://www.bpl.org/general/trustees/meetings.htm
When you buy that book instead of borrowing it
Perhaps then they can afford to give you the kind of customer service you think you deserve. In the meantime our taxpayer money will go on something a little more worthy.
look
I'm Agnostic, but recognize this is predominantly, overwhelming a at least nominally Christian country. Some people just need to stop being dbags and stop getting their panties constantly in a bunch.
Greater Boston has a significant Jewish population, by all means put up Jewish holiday stuff, I won't complain or take offense.
Great!
Since you're such a tolerant agnostic, you won't mind when the Muslims (both Shiite and Sufi), Buddhists, Hindus, Taoists, Shinto, Wiccans, Satanists, Zoroastrians, Scientologists, Rastafarians, Sikhs, Falun Gong, Bahai, and Mithraists all claim their right to put up 20-foot tall displays of their faiths, at Christmas or whenever they find it appropriate.
Oh, wait -- you only want people to have that right if there are a lot of them, like the "significant Jewish population." Tell me, how large does a religious group have to be to have religious rights? What institution defines the limits, and how? If a group fails the size test, will you tell them they have their panties in a bunch when they complain?