A Real Threat

WE AGREE with the majority opinion in all but one respects publicly funded Christmas decorations are not merely a "familiar, unthreatening fixture." They too constitute a dangerous excursion by government over the church-state wall. Those who favor publicly funded Christmas decorations no doubt have the best of intentions; sadly, though, they fail to see the consequences.

The majority opinion appropriately quotes an essay written by E.B. White in 1956. Had they read the postscript he attached to the essay in 1962 when it was run again, they might well have understood their folly. Shortly after the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a New York law allowing school prayer, White wrote:

....I think the Court again heard clearly the simple theme that ennobles our Constitution: that no one shall be made to feel uncomfortable or unsafe because of nonconformity. New York State, with the best intentions in the world, created a moment of gentle orthodoxy in public school life, and here and there a child was left out in the cold, bearing the stigma of being different. It is this one child that our Constitution is concerned about--his tranquility, his health, his safety, his conscience. What a kindly old document it is, and how brightly it shines, through interpretation after interpretation!

We must ensure that this brightness does not dim, on Christmas, or any day.