From Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers/AP:
Green Bay council president provokes atheists with nativity scene
The Green Bay City Council president paid for a nativity scene to be put up at City Hall after learning of an anti-religion group's protest of one in Peshtigo.
Council president Chad Fradette told a city committee he believed the U.S. Constitution upholds citizens' right to display symbols of their religious beliefs on publicly owned property as long as they are not paid for with tax money and other faiths aren't excluded.
The committee approved the nativity scene 4-1 Tuesday night.
"So now the Freedom From Religion Foundation can pick on somebody a little larger than Peshtigo," Fradette told the committee.
And a bit more:
Fradette had wanted to extend an invitation to all religions to put up displays, but committee members agreed a policy was needed to prevent people from testing the boundaries of taste. Fradette asked Schmitt for permission to put up his display while the council worked out those details.
Finally:
Peshtigo Mayor Thomas Strouf offered to pay the lighting bill for his city's display after the foundation objected to it. The local Chamber of Commerce owns and erected up the display, he said, although it is in a public park.
What's not to love -- having a bit of fun, exercising your freedom of speech and pissing off a bunch of nanny control-freaks.
