"... The county is free to communicate its own recognition of the holidays, including Christmas, as long as overtly Christian symbols are balanced with other religious and secular ones in a way that communicates to reasonable, informed observers that the county is not making a religious statement.
So the good people of Virginia can erect a manger scene, complete with live actors, paid for by the government, as long as they symbols are balanced out by secular symbols. How messy is this going to get? I have a feeling that the secular symbols the AG is speaking of are going to end up being Christmas trees and Christmas lights.
How “reasonable” is this policy going to be? Are there atheist groups in Virginia that are going to be able to put up knowledge-trees or a tribute to the Flying Spaghetti Monster for the holiday season, all while being publically funded? I doubt that any of the displays will be allowed to be displayed even if the groups themselves paid for them.
What are the public lawns going to look like with fifty different displays up for holidays? Are they going to also allow Muslims to put up displays for Ramadan or Jews for Chanukah? What about Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Wiccans, Witchdoctors, or Pagans?
I think it would be easier to just not allow anything of the sort on public land, funded by public money. I am sure that Virginia has better things to spend money on, like getting Cuccinelli the clown out of office.
I dunno. I got a feeling this one might get struck down if someone pushes the issue hard enough.
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