www.montereycountynow.com december 19-25, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 21 For decades, it was common practice for the City of Monterey to set up a nativity scene at Colton Hall. According to news reports in the 1990s, city officials moved it to a Catholic Church—clearly a better place for a religious display that depicts the story of Jesus’ birth—to avoid a legal dispute. But then in 1990 they moved it back to the public square, prompting the lawsuit they knew would come. Victor Ringel, then a 13-yearold Jewish resident, joined an Episcopal priest, two Unitarian ministers and others in suing the city. Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, they argued that by appearing to endorse Christianity, the city was violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment which prohibits government from endorsing a religion—the flipside of allowing people to freely practice any religion. (“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…”) Two days after Christmas, the City lost the lawsuit. The nativity scene has long since become a thing of the past. But there is still a Christmas tree and a public lighting ceremony on the Colton Hall lawn every winter. This year, there are angels from the city’s archive, newly restored and displayed. These are arguably secular symbols, in keeping with legal precedent. “Although Christmas trees once carried religious connotations, today they typify the secular celebration of Christmas,” the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1989. Some people find that argument lacking, such as Rabbi Dovid Holtzberg. He moved to the area and created Chabad of Monterey in 2003, shortly after the Ringel case. He approached city officials to ask about setting up a menorah for Hanukkah at Fisherman’s Wharf or another public area, and remembers an attorney showing him a stack of legal documents from the nativity suit to say: No chance. “That’s why we do it at Del Monte Center, on private grounds,” Holtzberg says. “I didn’t want to start a whole war.” Meanwhile, he watched as every year, a Christmas tree lights up—in keeping with the Supreme Court’s determination. “They say it’s not a religious symbol but it’s not right,” Holtzberg says. “Who are you fooling by saying it’s not? It’s definitely a religious symbol.” I asked attorney Michelle Welsh about these other symbols, even if the Supreme Court hasn’t taken a position (angels) or has decided they are secular (trees). Welsh represented the plaintiffs in the nativity scene case, and still serves on the board of the Monterey County chapter of the ACLU and the legal committee for its Northern California region. “I think those angels could be interpreted as art, rather than religion. I can also see an argument to be made that putting them up just at Christmastime appears to connect the intent to aggrandize religion and Christian religion in general,” Welsh says. “These days, I do not think that argument would prevail in the court.” Not just in culture but in law, Welsh is observing a tilt to embrace religious (specifically Christian) symbols in government spaces. The court’s interpretations of the Establishment Clause today seem to be tailormade to allow public institutions to endorse Christianity. (See, for example, cases that uphold the right to obligate schools to display the Ten Commandments.) Compared to 1990, Welsh says the pendulum has swung far to the right on the separation of church and state, and civil liberties more broadly. “I see this as a large trend, people not really caring,” Welsh says. “It is cause for concern. I wonder if there’s going to be a swinging back of the pendulum—as things become more and more invasive of privacy and other civil liberties, people may begin to notice.” Whether the angels are iconography or art is an easy argument. In choosing to restore them, Brian Edwards, Monterey’s library and museums director, says he was emphasizing art, not theology, and expects they will be perceived as art. He is not religious, he adds, but Christmas now extends beyond religion: “It’s a federal holiday too. This is not something where we say, you have to celebrate Jesus Christ.” Maybe that’s the real issue— that the default federal (secular) holiday aligns with a Christian (religious) holiday, failing the most basic church/state test. Sara Rubin is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com. Symbol Crash Christmas icons are all over public property, a sign of the times. By Sara Rubin Naughty or Nice…’Twas the night before Squidmas, and all through Squid’s lair, neighbors were scrambling to find the perfect pieces of seaweed to wrap gifts. Squid decided to ooze around with gifts for landlubbers, dropping them down various chimneys. For Sheriff Tina Nieto, Squid gives a radar detector for her personal vehicle, so she doesn’t get pulled over for speeding yet again by those pesky California Highway Patrol officers in South County. (Was three times in 2024 the charm?) To Monterey County Supervisor Mary Adams, who is retiring, Squid gives the gift of a vacation in a short-term rental—something that Adams never succeeded in banning, even if she did finally help get a sorta-kinda-in-between ordinance over the finish line. For Amazon representatives, Squid gifts a satellite with a camera, so they can view construction of one of their largest warehouses in the world in Salinas from space. To Carmel residents who refuse to accept street addresses: A pair of airport traffic batons to direct Amazon delivery drivers and first responders to their houses. For the City of Seaside, Squid gives a city manager who does the job and sticks around. To hospital executives at Montage Health, Salinas Valley Health and Natividad, Squid gives squishy stress balls to hold onto next year as the California Office of Health Care Affordability continues its investigation into the hospitals’ high prices. A knock on the door from the California Attorney General’s Office might be in their future. For CSU Monterey Bay, Squid gifts a buyer for the National Steinbeck Center—which has been on the market for two-plus years. For Marina shoppers, Squid offers rides in Squid’s jalopy to shuttle people to and from the newest Trader Joe’s store, which, as expected, has a parking lot too small for demand. Squid gives a gold star to all the good people who rushed to the aid of 96-year-old Jean Jacques, who faced a three-day eviction notice from Pacifica Pacific Grove but thanks to their efforts is now secure in her apartment for the rest of her life. (A lump of coal goes to the Pacifica Senior Living executives who served the notice, despite Jacques having a contract for her care under the former owners.) For all those who fought hard for the SURF! busway, Squid gives a stocking full of bus fare and books. Squid hopes you enjoy a lot of rides on the six-mile, $105 million project along Highway 1; that’s $17.5 million per mile, and a lot of time to read. As an invertebrate, Squid relates to U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, but Squid gives him a spine to stand up to Democratic leaders, when it’s called for. It’s going to be a rough four years in Washington, so Squid gives Panetta and U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren each a mini zen garden to help get through them. the local spin SQUID FRY THE MISSION OF MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY IS TO INSPIRE INDEPENDENT THINKING AND CONSCIOUS ACTION, ETC. “It’s definitely a religious symbol.” Send Squid a tip: squid@montereycountynow.com
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