Perhaps it’s time for all religious people to return to England

Dear Editor:

I would remind everyone of how our nation was founded. A group of Pilgrims fled England due to harsh religious persecution to find religious freedom in the New World.

The New World turned into a new country–the United States of America. Then came our constitution and the First Amendment. Read it:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances

What does “the free exercise thereof” mean to you? What does “free speech” or “free expression” mean to you?

To me, it means that NO ONE has the right to abridge my right to believe in a higher power that governs life.

Now let’s talk about what a “Nativity Scene” is. A Nativity Scene, typically, is a group of figures or statues representing certain people (and usually animals) that were present at the birth of the founder of a particular worldwide group of religions. What is a “Menorah?” It is a candle holder with a specific configuration commemorating the “miracle of lights” that transpired when the members of one of the oldest established religions in the world returned from exile and rebuilt the temple to the higher power that they worshiped.

During a certain month of the year, both of these representations are placed conspicuously on the corner of Hillsboro Boulevard and Federal Highway.

Last year, the city [commission] allowed an individual to hoodwink them into adding a “Festivus” pole made of beer cans to the tableau.

They failed to recognize that this was a mocking skit from a Jerry Seinfeld show.

To cover their embarrassment, they decided that the city would not officially sponsor the display of the aforementioned religious holiday symbols, citing their fear of lawsuits. I’d like to mention that the writer of that skit, in a recent interview, stated that he was coerced by his fellows into writing up the skit based on some silly behavior of his own father. He never thought the skit would make it into production. He was mortified at how it took off and became part of the cynical sub-culture.

So what happened this year? A group of people, on their own accord, placed the Nativity Scene and the Menorah at the corner of Hillsboro and Federal.

The ACLU and Channel 10 showed up and discussed the separation of church and state. The next day, the symbols of two major religions were taken down.

What are these symbols, after all? Some figures and a candle holder.

In and of themselves, they do not proselytize, they do not criticize, they make no verbal or written statement abridging the rights of people who do not believe in a higher power. All they do is stand mutely on the corner of two heavily traveled roads, in quiet testament to those who choose to believe that there is a higher power governing our lives.

I hereby demand that the ACLU represent my interests as one who believes in a higher power and defend me against those who misinterpret the meaning of the division of church and state.

I demand that they send a representative to the city [commission] and persuade them to reinstate the long-standing tradition in Deerfield Beach of respecting the beliefs of many of its citizens.

I’m willing to tolerate your non-religious belief if you are willing to back off and learn to tolerate my religious one.

Deborah Welgoss

Deerfield Beach

NOTE: The Menorah was removed prior to the nativity scene