By Morris Malakoff, JTNews Correspondent
It was on the verge of becoming a holiday tradition in Olympia: The annual battle over religious symbols in the state legislative building, more commonly referred to as the Capitol.
The battle became more of a circus last year when a placard touting an atheistic point of view was placed between a Christmas tree and a nativity scene. That opened the door to all comers, reaching a Seinfeld-inspired crescendo when a group requested permission to place a “Festivus pole” in among the competing symbols of the winter holidays.
In the end, attention from the national media threw a bright spotlight on Olympia and many felt the messages got lost in the melee of calls, e-mails, letters and protests over the competing theological approaches to the season.
This year, the rules have been changed. Religious symbols are allowed on state land outside the capitol. Only a “holiday tree,” paid for by the state, will be indoors. The new rule bans any “non-governmental” displays in state buildings, but by being taxpayer funded, the tree is a governmental display.
According to Rabbi Cheski Edelman of the Chabad of Olympia, this is a puzzling solution.
“There has been a menorah in the Capitol in the past,” he said. “In fact, Governor Gregoire has helped light it twice that I am aware of. Now these displays are required to be outdoors, where it seems more people will actually see them.”
Last year and this year, the Chabad has erected a nine-foot-tall menorah in Sylvester Park, a one-square-block historical park in downtown Olympia, about a mile from the Capitol. It is owned by the state, just like the nearby Capitol campus. This year the menorah was to be in place starting on December 10.
“We had it out there last year and we had no problems or protests,” he said.
He said that the new process this year was simple and fair and he had no problems getting a permit for the menorah.
An organization, Seattle Atheists, has applied to erect a small sign on state land. As of December 7, no decision on that request had been made.
Otherwise, the requests for displays this year have slowed to a trickle. The person who erected the nativity scene that made the atheists’ group feel a need to respond is not participating this year. He says his nativity set is for indoor use.
The atheist group from last year, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, has said that without a nativity scene it has no plans to re-join the religious wars of Olympia. Its message, however, can be found on the side of several buses throughout the Puget Sound region.
Rabbi Edelman says that the arguing between atheists and those offended by them is not a concern of his.
“I truly don’t worry about that stuff,” he said. “I want to spread the light and Sylvester Park is a great place to do that. It is a great place to spread the message of the holidays to the community.”