Amidst the usual holiday season buildup last week, the Town of Hyde Park was forced to address the issue of holiday displays – specifically, what should be allowed on town property? The question was prompted by a written request from Bonnie Meadow, the executive director of the Jewish Federation of Dutchess County, who asked Town Supervisor Pompey Delafield to remove a manger scene from the front of Town Hall. After considerable public outcry, Delafield issued a release stating that the manger scene would stay, and Meadow withdrew her request, saying in a letter to Delafield, in part, “It was never my intent to hurt anyone or to spoil their holidays.”
At the core of the issue is the question of religious tolerance that always seems to crop up at times like this. Those opposed to the manger scene appearing on public land would argue that the separation between church and state must be maintained, but the Supreme Court has ruled that religious displays are allowed on public property as long as they don’t promote or prohibit any particular religion. A banner at the top of Hyde Park’s nativity reads “Peace on Earth” – not exactly something the world’s religions would be opposed to.
But at the same time, there must be room for diversity, which Delafield stressed in his final response to Meadow, noting that the town “would be open to a similar display of the menorah to honor the season of Chanukah, or any other appropriate seasonal display as a part of this year’s holiday offering at Town Hall.” Rather than follow a practice of exclusion, Meadow should have sought inclusion from the beginning. Even if she couldn’t have foreseen the backlash her request would have, the right move would have been to add to Hyde Park’s holiday display, not take away from it.
The flap over the nativity scene is a sad commentary on the pervasiveness of political correctness in our culture. The whole point of tolerance is to accept others’ beliefs, not ask that they be pushed out of sight if you don’t agree with them. Delafield made the right decision in this case, and that should be a standard going forward – the answer to disputes like this is encouraging participation from all sides, rather than tolerate none at all. The holidays, while seen by many as over-commercialized and stripped of their real meaning, are still deeply spiritual. To rob believers of that feeling – even represented by a small nativity in this corner of the world – is not a message of tolerance. The irony that this division comes during a time of the year when unity is stressed only hammers that point home. Rather than pitting religions against each other on the front lawn of the town hall, the holidays should be a chance for the faithful to express themselves and their views. Intolerance isn’t the answer.