The Freedom From Religion Foundation and area member Geoff Snyder have returned a Bill of Rights "nativity" scene to a key Indiana city.
The scene is placed at the County-City Building in South Bend, Ind. The centerpiece of the seasonal display is a whimsical Bill of Rights "nativity." The metal cutout depicts three Founding Fathers along with the Statue of Liberty gazing in adoration at a "baby" Bill of Rights.
A sign beside the tongue-in-cheek nativity reads: "At this Season of the Winter Solstice, join us in honoring the Bill of Rights, adopted on Dec. 15, 1791, which reminds us there can be no religious freedom without the freedom to dissent." It ends with: "Keep religion and government separate!"
The display went up a few days ago and will stay there through the end of the year.
Snyder first placed the exhibit in the lobby of the County-City Building in the winter of 2015 after St. Joseph County allowed a Christian nativity scene to be prominently showed off there.
"Residents shouldn't be subjected to religious preaching on government property," says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "But when they are, we'll be there to balance it — thanks to our ever-vigilant members."
FFRF would like to thank Snyder for putting up the exhibit. Without the derring-do of its members, FFRF would not be able to make its presence felt in cities around the country.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a state/church watchdog, has 30,000 nonreligious members nationwide, including more than 400 in Indiana.