A posh Montreal suburb has decided to remove a nativity scene and menorah from town hall rather than acquiesce to demands from a Muslim group to erect Islamic religious symbols.The town councillors acted foolishly. Here in Mission Viejo we have a corner where annual religious displays are placed every Christmas, including a Nativity, a Menorah (and we usually have a large dreidel too), as well as a display from the local Muslim community and the local Baha'i faith. We even have a giant Santa and sleigh for the secularists. I don't have a problem with everybody sharing some space on those corners.
The decision by the Town of Mount Royal upsets a Christian resident who says the town is abandoning an established tradition under pressure from a tiny religious minority.
Town councillors of several different religions unanimously decided to remove the Christian and Jewish items.
They had been displayed in front of the municipal building for the past 15 years.
"We asked ourselves if we were willing to display (symbols of) the five major religions," said Mayor Philippe Roy.
"This is not the role of the city, which is a secular public institution."
Some years back the city council tried to act foolishly and ban all the displays and the people revolted. There was such an outcry they had no choice but to reinstate the items the next year. It's a nice tradition every year to see the displays at La Paz Road and Chrisanta. I took some pictures of the displays a few years ago that you can see here.
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2 comments:
Tolerance should be a two-way street. Is it legal to display a Christian or Jewish symbol in Saudi Arabia?
I find that the the mayor made a huge mistake by removing the nativity scene and the menorah. That is why I started a petition hoping to convince the city hall members to respect the traditions of the community that they are supposed to represent.
Thank you for your support.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nativity-scene-and-menorah-in-tmr/
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