After my earlier “Merry Christmas” post the esteemed Dr. Harold Tedford passed along this column by Charley Reese, and I find a lot to agree with here. First:

I don’t think nativity scenes belong on courthouse lawns and or other government properties. For one thing, in its usual weaselly way, the Supreme Court said that such scenes must include secular symbols. Well, what’s the point of having them then? Christ wasn’t born under a tree, and Santa Claus wasn’t present. True nativity scenes belong, appropriately, on church property.

However:

People who claim to be “offended” by the sights or sounds from another religion brand themselves as bigots. Beauty is beauty, whether its inspiration is Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu or Buddhist. In a plural society, there is no room for such bigotry. Religion as art or history is allowable in public schools. Timid school administrators should just say to bigots, “You ought to be ashamed of yourself, and if you think hearing ‘Joy to the World’ is going to make your ears fall off or endanger your soul, then don’t attend the concert.”

A very good read from a very sensible author…