WASHINGTON, D.C, December 22, 2009 — Both houses of Congress
passed the Freedom From Religion Act last night just in time to
adjourn for what is now being called the Winter Solstice recess.
President Hillary Rodham Clinton says she will sign the bill “as
soon as it gets to my desk.”
“This is historic legislation,” she said in a statement. “It
finally clears up the confusion and controversy over the place of
religion in modern America and it spells out the details that make
separation of church and state such an important part of our
Constitution.”
The bill goes into effect as soon as it is signed and, when
Congress returns in January, some of the legislation’s effects will
be felt on Capitol Hill. For example, there will be no more
chaplains in either Senate or House, and daily sessions will no
longer begin with a prayer. By law, Congress will now expunge the
word “Christmas” from its vocabulary. The bill denotes that the
federal holiday heretofore described as “Christmas Day” will
henceforth be called “Winter Solstice Holiday.”
“If we had not made this change, non-Christians might have had
to work on what was essentially a religious holiday,” said House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In the military, members of the chaplain corps will be
reassigned to non-religious duties, with the exception of Muslims.
“They are a special case,” said Senator Ted Kennedy.
The sweeping legislation will make life easier for town and
school administrators. Nativity scenes and crosses are prohibited
on public property; however, miniature minarets and statues of
Gaia, the Earth Mother, are permitted. representing what the bill
describes as “cultural diversity.” There will be no more Santa
Clauses allowed in town festivities because, as Pelosi put is, “He
is based upon a Third Century Middle Eastern nobleman who dispensed
gifts and later became St. Nicholas, clearly a religious figure.”
During the “holiday” or “Winter Solstice” season (either term is
permissible) school children may not sing any songs with the word
“Christmas” in them. “‘Kumbaya’ is okay as are such things as ‘Om
mane patme hum’ [a Tibetan prayer chant],” said Pelosi, because
they don’t imply that the season is a Christian one.
Referring to the provision of the bill that drops “In God We
Trust” from U.S. currency and the nationwide removal of “under God”
from the Pledge of Allegiance, Michael Newdow said, “This is the
culmination of a long battle for equal rights under the law.” Mr.
Newdow, who gained fame in 2002 when he successfully pursued, in
the 9th Federal District Court, a suit to prohibit “under God” from
the Pledge, is today chairman of Atheists Working For Unlimited
License (AWFUL).
The group’s spokesman, Jonathan Selldog said, “For years, we had
to endure being offended and intimidated because we were not part
of the majority. Now, instead of being offended, we can be
offensive.”
What is next on AWFUL’s agenda? Mr. Selldog says they will now
go after the “outrageous proposition” that churches are tax exempt
and receive tax-deductible contributions. “This means that those of
us who do not believe in their superstitions are forced to
subsidize their cult-like activities. We contend this is
unconstitutional and we are going to ask the American Civil
Liberties Union to take our case” he added.
“The Freedom From Religion Act gets religion off the streets,
out of sight and into the churches where it belongs,” said Sally
Ecular, spokeswoman for the ACLU. “Getting it off the public dole
is the next step,” she added.
Ms. Ecular went on: “We haven’t decided what to do about the
Salvation Army people on public streets in front of department
stores during the holiday season or the Boy Scouts who meet in
church basements and community halls,. We definitely want the first
off the streets and the second out of those places, but we’ll wait
to see the regulations that are written to flesh out the bill.”
The bill was not without opposition. Former President George W.
Bush said, “This is a sad day for America. Our founders all
believed in God; about ninety percent of our citizens do to this
day. Christians make up a great majority of those. We also honor
other religions. But the growing secularization of Christmas — a
Christian event—has been driven by the atheists. Here is a case
where a tiny group, pretending to be ‘offended,’ is pushing
everyone else around. It’s a case of the tail wagging the dog.”
The Associated Press reported today that Mary Mulligan, a
parishioner at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, insisted
that she saw the statue of the Virgin Mary weep.
