A Menorah on the Courthouse Lawn?
Rabbi Michael Ragozin, Congregation Sha'are Shalom, Leesburg, VA
Originally appeared: February 2009 synagogue bulletin
Current month's bulletin available at www.sha-areshalom.org
Sometimes what I believe is not what I feel. Take this year’s display of a menorah on the courthouse lawn, for example. I believe that religious symbols belong in religious institutions and private places, not in the public square. However, the display of a Nativity scene (crèche), menorah, and Sikh flag on the lawn of the county courthouse at the corner of King Street and Market Street was a beautiful expression of interfaith co-existence. What’s more important, my convictions or my experience?
Many of you have seen the crèche in years past. This year, the individuals responsible for the crèche approached Beth Chaverim in Ashburn about participating in the winter display. Subsequently, an individual at Beth Chaverim, active in interfaith work, approached members of the interfaith group, Loudoun Bridges, about joining in the winter display. Ultimately, a five-foot menorah and Sikh flag were displayed with the crèche.
Passing the intersection of King and Market streets during Hanukkah, I felt a sense of pride seeing our people represented in the public square. Moreover, the inclusion of the Sikh community was transformative: it brought forth the interfaith nature of the display in a way that I have not appreciated in previous winter displays when only Christian and Jewish symbols are present. Though I did not attend the dedication ceremony, I have heard positive responses to this year’s winter display. Next year the Muslim community may also participate.
However, are not separation of church and state and religious freedom cornerstones of our democracy, ensuring that all people feel welcome and that they will be treated fairly? Through their placement on the courthouse lawn, these symbols become associated with the court, which is charged with upholding and preserving equality under the law. Isn’t it more appropriate in a country, which is built on diversity and religious freedom, to keep religious symbols in private spaces: places of worship, homes, and businesses?
I have framed this issue as one of belief and conviction versus feeling and experience. Nevertheless, we also can consider this issue solely in terms of belief. Perhaps more than anything else, Judaism values and implores us to strive for justice and peace. Are justice and peace, or the perception of them, compromised by the display of religious symbols on the courthouse lawn? Or does the interfaith nature of this year’s display, which signals religious tolerance, acceptance and unity, promote justice and peace in Loudoun County? The incongruity between my belief that religious symbols do not belong in the public square and the beauty of this year’s interfaith display creates a dilemma for me. If invited, should Sha’are Shalom participate next year?
There are additional complexities to this dilemma. Should we consider the importance, function, and visual power of the specific religious symbols in the display? Would we feel differently if the display were in a different location? What if other groups join the winter display? Finally, is our response affected by the probability that this year’s display will exist next year, with or without our blessing and participation?
Whether you saw this year’s display or are reading about it for the first time, I’d like to know how you feel. What are your thoughts on this issue? Let’s talk about it.
Peace and blessing,
Rabbi Michael
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While I am beyond thrilled with the cultural diversity that has (finally) arrived in Leesburg, I still don't feel that a religious symbol belongs in a government space. I feel this way for a couple of reasons. One, when you make choices about who to have represented, you are automatically setting up a situation where someone, somewhere will not be included. This is not at all in line with the concept of inclusion as is outlined by the Constitution. Two, what role should any religious institution have in government? The US Constitution was written to purposefully draw a firm line between church and state. While this hasn't always been the case in the US in actual practice, it is a principal that helped create a country where everyone, ideally, is free to pursue happiness. Inclusion implies, by its existence, that there is exclusion. Thank you for an interesting blog post!
ReplyDeleteReligious symbols should be kept off the public square. I love the increasing diversity in Loudoun, but I would prefer to see it in ways that don't exclude anyone and that don't link church and state, such as with joint community service projects. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to note that the constitution guarantees "freedom OF religion" and does not require freedom FROM religion. There was an incident in the Washington state capitol that is described as follows. (an excerpt from a Statesman Journal article).
ReplyDeleteJust when I thought the Christmas wars couldn't get more ridiculous or hostile, along comes the uproar about dueling holiday displays in the Washington state Capitol. First a holiday tree, then a menorah, followed by a creche — and now a "winter solstice" placard declaring all of the above to be hokum.The solstice sign, placed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, describes religion as "myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."
You will note that the presentation of the creche or the menorah did not attack or attempt to encourage any particular position, attitude or opinion. They merely symbolically presented their holiday. Only the agnostics made sure to impose their position on the viewers. This imposition is contrary to any concept of freedom. For generations the Christmas tree was displayed in all public places in the US so what is wrong with a Menorah or a creche. They are all symbols of a variety of religious celebrations and so long as they in no way impose their beliefs on others they only beautify the areas where they are displayed. They also demonstrate publically that the United States is a " a country, which is built on diversity and religious freedom". This is an important lesson. The teachings, dogma and practices of the various religions should be kept in the places of worship and the homes.
Rabbi Ragozin,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughtful essay. I find your reflections on this matter capture many of the thoughts with which I struggled as I considered this matter.
Having been raised in a politically liberal Jewish home, I recall that freedom of speech and separation of church and state were among the most important constitutional ideas we discussed. As you note, these concepts are “cornerstones of our democracy” and provide critically important safeguards for each of us. I also observe that embracing our nation’s diversity in a way that promotes mutual understanding and respect is critical to ensuring a safe and well functioning democracy, and that the absence of such understanding and respect have resulted in some of the more tragic and trying episodes in our nation’s history.
Given the tone of world events over the last eight years, this task is especially important both for America and for other nations addressing difficult situations and long-term conflicts. The way we relate to each other here in America not only provides an important example to the rest of the world, but helps our children learn first hand about America’s core values of respect and tolerance.
As I reflect on the holiday display on the Courthouse grounds, I think about how to best support the principals of mutual understanding and respect. There are clearly several options. We could set up a separate interfaith holiday display at another location resulting in two holiday displays in Leesburg; the long-tenured Christmas display at the Courthouse and an interfaith display at a new site. Alternatively we could invite the hosts of the Christmas display to relocate and join in a fully interfaith display at this new site. Unfortunately, it seems that such steps would at best create divisiveness, and at worse engender ill will and hostile feelings.
Most of us have had the experience that when we wish to move in new directions with partners, either as individuals or organizations, it is best to start the work from ‘where they are’. It seems the best way to support diversity and demonstrate interfaith cooperation in Loudoun County is to join with others, particularly those who have long standing in our community.
I believe that by taking one step at a time with our friends of other faiths, we can continue to build a community in keeping with our nation’s great ideals, and as Rabbi Ragozin stated, actively pursue our own faith’s teachings of Tikun Olam.
Thank you again Rabbi for your reflections on this matter so important to our community.
Ray Daffner, Waterford
Member – Beth Chaverim Reform Congregation
If invited, Sha’are Shalom should participate in next year's winter display.
ReplyDeleteWhat struck me most from this story was that the individuals responsible for the creche were the ones who approached the Jewish community about participating in the winter display.
From a legal standpoint, any Constitutional issue surrounding the placement of creche on the courthouse lawn could have been satisfied by incorporating a handful of plastic reindeer into the display. Instead, in a gracious act of religious tolerance and acceptance, the organizers actively sought out their friends and neighbors of different faiths to participate in a tradition that had long been exclusively their own.
In other corners of our country, non-Christian religions that want to include a display on the courthouse lawn often find themselves in the courthouse itself. These minority communities are forced to seek judicial intervention to participate in similar winter displays, often at great cost to their relationship with the larger community.
We in Leesburg are fortunate to not be in such a situation. Our Christian neighbors, in an act of interfaith cooperation, actively sought us out and to join them in a celebration of religious diversity. What kind of message would it send to refuse their initiation?
In my view, accepting an invitation to stand shoulder to shoulder in the public square with our neighbors of various faith goes a long way toward perfecting our world.
Marion B. writes:
ReplyDeleteI was baptized a Catholic 76 years ago, have been a lapsed Catholic for more than 60 years and a confirmed atheist (not agnostic) most of my adult life. I am an enthusiastic supporter of the separation of church and state and consider that important underpinning of the U.S. constitutional system an enormous and enlightened contribution of the nation's founders--who were reacting to the abuses they experienced under the British state religion. I view theocracies and state religions guilty of contributing to the misery of millions over the centuries by their use of faith as a weapon of war and oppression.
For most of my life I have cringed at the crosses and crèches that sprang up in public places each December--and I was not soothed when menorahs and other religious symbols began to be added to the displays in recent years. Even worse was the generation of fights as more groups--celebrating their differences rather than the common origins of mankind--demanded representation. Speaking personally, I have never felt the need to petition for equal rights for doubters like me--perhaps a lighted question mark?
Nevertheless, I admit that the sprinkle of lights during the long, dark nights in these northern latitudes has always been cheerful. I am not proposing some ridiculous "neutral" pagan celebration of the winter solstice. Just a simple, energy-efficient display of lights during the darkest nights as a recognition of the cycle of seasons and the promise of change and hope. In peace, Marion