Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Rights Of Believers And Unbelievers

Christmas is fast approaching and many of the decorations are already up.

When I was a child I remember the Christmas tree in the town square with a manger scene underneath depicting the birth of Jesus. Nowadays such a display of religious belief, at least on public property, has been condemned, as have displays of the cross, the ten commandments and other religious items, by the non-christian minority in this country.

Excuse me, but isn't Jesus the whole reason behind Christmas and isn't the ten commandments what our whole system of laws based on? So it seems to me that there is nothing wrong with having a statue of Jesus as part of a Christmas display or having a display of the ten commandments at a courthouse. If it bothers someone, well they really don't have to look at it.

But here is what I really think about the whole situation. It really doesn't matter one way or the other. If you truly believe, it will not matter whether or not you see a cross or a statue of Jesus or a display of the ten commandments somewhere. Or a bible in your hotel room for that matter (yeah that's the latest thing....no more bibles in hotel rooms; guess you have to bring your own if you want one). Your faith is in your heart and it should not matter if you see any external symbols of it or not. Likewise if you do not believe, I don't think seeing a cross or a statue of Jesus or some other religious symbol will suddenly convert you. So the whole controversy is meaningless. If someone wants to display a manger or a cross, fine; I don't care. I mean, what about a statue of Budda, or maybe some pagan figure? They're all fine in my opinion, and it won't change what I believe or don't believe.

So Sayeth The Shack

1 comment:

Jeni said...

Good post John - and I agree with you too -for whatever that is worth. Sometimes, you just can't please people I guess is what a lot of it boils down to and they have to be miserable - talk about a bunch of Grinches, huh?