{"id":660,"date":"2009-12-20T14:42:00","date_gmt":"2009-12-20T18:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.skepticblogs.com\/justinvacula\/2009\/12\/20\/1220-times-leader-article\/"},"modified":"2009-12-20T14:42:00","modified_gmt":"2009-12-20T18:42:00","slug":"1220-times-leader-article","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/2009\/12\/20\/1220-times-leader-article\/","title":{"rendered":"12\/20 Times Leader Article"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

December 21, 2009<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Protesters have their say<\/a><\/h2>\n

BILL O \u2019 BOYLE boboyle@timesleader.com<\/p>\n

WILKES-BARRE \u2013 About 30 people showed up Sunday to rally for the return of the holiday displays to the Luzerne County Courthouse lawn \u2013 a decision that has already been made by the county\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n

While the protesters listened to brief speeches, several children played in the background \u2013 some of them lying down on the courthouse lawn to make snow angels to add a touch of irony to the day. The rally was held on the site where the manger scene and menorah stood until last week.<\/p>\n

The issue over religious displays on public property emerged last week when the American Civil Liberties Union and another group threatened to file suit against the county to remove the Nativity and menorah on the courthouse lawn.<\/p>\n

Justin Vacula, a King\u2019s College student, filed the complaint with the ACLU.<\/p>\n

The displays were removed, but one county official said they will be returned as part of a display featuring secular holiday objects.<\/p>\n

Vito DeLuca, county solicitor, said he has been working with a representative from the Rosenn Jenkins & Greenwald law firm, the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State to create a display that is acceptable to everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s great, but it shouldn\u2019t have been removed in the first place,\u201d said Frank Scavo, rally organizer. \u201cIt\u2019s the Christmas and Hanukkah season; any religion should be allowed to put up an appropriate display during their time of celebration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles; the Constitution provides freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scavo said that allowing such displays is a constitutional right and he scourged the ACLU for not being thorough in its mission to remove religious symbolism from all government buildings and currency.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe someone from the ACLU should climb to the top of the Washington Monument and remove the plaque that reads \u2018Laus Deo\u2019 \u2013 which means honor God,\u201d Scavo said. \u201cAnd maybe \u2018In God We Trust\u2019 should be removed from the dollar bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

The protesters clapped and shouted in the below-freezing weather, holding signs while passing vehicles blared their horns in support.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis shows our county commissioners how the people of Luzerne County feel about this issue,\u201d Scavo said.<\/p>\n

One sign read, \u201cKeep Christ in Christmas,\u201d and another read \u201cIt\u2019s Christmas, not Xmas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scavo led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the rally. An American flag was placed next to the speaker\u2019s podium.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need the ACLU to interpret our laws or Constitution for us,\u201d Scavo said. \u201cThis is a matter of extremely poor timing. Where was the ACLU when the civil rights of our children were being denied in that courthouse?\u201d<\/p>\n

Scavo said activist Gene Stilp plans to bring a live manger scene to the courthouse lawn 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about doing what is right,\u201d said Renee Schroeder. \u201cPeople are fed up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wilkes-Barre law firm of Rosenn Jenkins and Greenwald has offered free representation to the county and donated $1,000 to purchase other holiday secular items to be included in the display.<\/p>\n

DeLuca said he expects that once a design is approved, the county\u2019s Christmas display should be back in place on courthouse grounds this morning.<\/p>\n

Bill O\u2019Boyle<\/em>, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7218.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

December 21, 2009 Protesters have their say BILL O \u2019 BOYLE boboyle@timesleader.com WILKES-BARRE \u2013 About 30 people showed up Sunday to rally for the return of the holiday displays to the Luzerne County Courthouse lawn \u2013 a decision that has already been made by the county\u2019s leadership. While the protesters listened to brief speeches, several […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,31,45,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-me-in-the-media","category-nativity","category-responding-to-arguments","category-separation-of-church-and-state"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}