Last December, we told you about a group of ‘freethinkers’ in Little Rock pushing for a secular “Winter Solstice” display next to the Nativity Scene on the Capitol Lawn.
If you’d like to revisit those articles, here they are:
- ACLU Attacks Nativity at Arkansas State Capitol
- The Arkansas Society of Freethinkers and their Dogma
- Atheist Group Erects Shrine to Paganism, Nature Worship at State Capitol
- Defending the Nativity on the News (Updated)
The group won a lawsuit in federal court requiring the State of Arkansas to let them display their ‘Winter Solstice kiosk’ next to the Nativity Scene on the Capitol Lawn every year, and now they’re agreeing to a settlement with the State that includes the State of Arkansas paying the group nearly $26,000 to cover their legal fees, and according to the Associated Press, “permanently enjoins” the State from barring their display.
Here’s the problem: Very little of the atheist group’s display has anything at all to do with the Winter Solstice. It’s a four-sided billboard about atheism, evolution, the supposed “pagan roots” of Christmas, and a list of books the Freethinkers recommend (see a full summary of the different sides of the display here).
Every December, the State Capitol puts up beautiful Christmas decorations. They let school choirs come sing Christmas carols in the Rotunda of the building. They close all of their offices on December 25. They do these things because they celebrate Christmas as a holiday.
Now, I ask you, what do a supposed evolutionary timeline of the Earth and books like The End of Faith have to do with Christmas? Nothing.
The Arkansas Freethinkers say they just want to take part in the festivities by celebrating the Winter Solstice—which occurs around Christmas—but the truth is, most of their ‘decorations’ are, in one way or another, designed to take a swat at Christians and the Christmas holiday.
Christmas is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Christ, and hopes for peace and goodwill on Earth—and it’s a celebration the vast majority of Arkansans observe. Frankly, I can’t see why anyone would find it necessary to so staunchly oppose observing something we could all so obviously use right now—peace and goodwill—especially in our government.
