Why did the Polk County Commission (Florida) decide to allow the display of a particular religion (go on, guess which one) on public property? "A group had asked to display a scene important to their beliefs; I felt we shouldn't suppress their right to do so," said Commissioner Samuel K. Johnson. So if a person has a 'belief' then they get to do what they want, right? Because to not let them do anything they want would be 'suppressing their right' to 'believe' something. And if their 'belief' is that the United States Consititution is a nice option but not actually connected to American law, history, tradition or governance, then they should not have their 'beliefs' 'suppressed.' Religion, and only religion, gets this special exemption from the law. Open up a social service agency and you have to account for every penny you take in and spend - but do the same work (or just say you do - there isn't any oversight) and call it religious and you get to do anything you want with no accountability. We've had a few thousand years of moderately well documented history now - what usually happens when religion gets to trump the law?
The area where the religious display is located has been declared a 'public forum' for any sort of disply. Shrines for Zoroastrianism and Festivus have already gone up. So Florida has ruled that all religions are equally meaningful, or meaningless, depending. But only religion gets to circumvent the law; when was the last time a secular display, or an advertisement, or a work of art, was allowed to be posted anywhere the creator wanted because they 'believed' in it?
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