This Monday, a Federal Court judge ruled in a case between the city of Santa Monica and a group called the Santa Monica Nativity Scenes Committee that the city can deny organizations the ability to erect Nativity scenes on public land. But, the back story is even more intriguing than the decision.
Over the years, the street-facing side of Palisades Park was lined with various religious presentations during the Holiday Season. Primarily, they were Christian. Last year, responding to protests from a variety of non-Christian religious groups over their domination of the spaces, the City decided that the placement of these displays would be determined by lottery. Of the 21 display spaces, 18 went to secular groups, two were assigned to Christians and one to a Jewish group.
Of the secular displays spots, half were left empty and the others were, shall we say, decidedly irreligious. With all the brouhaha and legal costs involved, the City decided it didn’t want a repeat performance and banned all displays. Thus, the lawsuit.
The discussion…let’s call it what it is…the argument…about religion in the public space needs to be separated into its constituent parts. The real question isn’t about the right of people to present religious speech. It’s about who pays for it. Is it right for a government to spend money to provide an opportunity for specific religious speech to be made?
The inability of people to make this separation in their own heads is understandable. They believe in what they believe and it shouldn’t be a hardship on anyone else if they express it. But, it is. If we have learned anything over the last few weeks it is that the diversity of this country is expanding, and that diversity covers many things, from ethnicity to religiosity. It demands respect.
That respect includes making the shared public space as neutral to divergent opinions as possible. No one, no matter how long a program has been going on, is provided “divine right.”
From a city’s perspective, the choice it has to make is whether to provide equal space for everyone or for none. Since it is very likely that covering every alternative is unlikely to be inclusive enough, the right to make that space available to no one is often the most prudent approach.
The Santa Monica situation is by no means unique. In California, it is illegal for City Councils to provide invocations that exclude members of the community. While it may be impossible for Councils to stop people while they are at the podium, it is expected
It is really very simple. For those whose hackles are raised by such a requirement, the law says, “Oh, stop it.” It isn’t really that hard. One just has to enter the public space knowing that others deserve respect.
There are more than enough places to offer religious views. They are called churches, synagogues, mosques, meeting halls, etc. etc.
