While folks in Bend have been praying for spring, a group of residents in Prineville has been focused intently on another season as of late and it isn’t summer. They’ve been thinking about Christmas, and thinking hard. Some of them have been hitting the streets, gathering signatures in an effort to save Christmas – not from the Grinch, mind you. No it’s worse. They’re trying to save the holiday from the godless atheists over at the ACLU who would stop the city from erecting a Nativity outside Prineville’s town hall.
Battling the ACLU over a uniquely Christian display might seem like a fool’s errand. But don’t tell that to the God-fearing folks in Prineville. But after the city has gotten so much positive press, thanks to the successful recruitment of Facebook’s data center, do city leaders really want to put forth Prineville as a community that went to the mat over delusions of Christian persecution? This isn’t Rome, folks. WTF?
This article appears in May 26 – Jun 1, 2011.
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I stepped in last night at the City Council meeting and helped resolve the entire situation as a private citizen. The Nativity scene will go on as well as a greatly expanded holiday display.