You may have read my post after posting this - in which case you should post a retraction.
Religious displays are permitted - as are atheist and all kinds of other displays.
none of them are allowed to be placed and left ‘unattended’ (thats what the ban was about - unattended displays - and they also now seem to have placed a bit of a time limit as one of the articles seemed to say ‘daily’ permits now).
Will you retract your statement or not?
And I ask again - you stated earlier that if you had the power, you would oppose these displays anyway - so aren’t you being more than a bit hypocritical here?
All right, ALL RIGHT-- I will retract my statement. IF you will concede that I had used the word “if” in earlier posts. Including the one you bolded. Okay?
Then maybe you will acknowledge that I hedged my statement. Right? I think Rudyard Kipling wrote that “IF” is the biggest word in the English language.
Actually, I thought I was acknowledging your statement in the first place; it’s just as well that you corrected me.
I don’t necessarily think so. I alone can’t make the rules for everybody, and I wouldn’t try even if I were in the position I figure would have the most authority: the member of the Santa Monica City Council representing the district containing Palisades Park. The Nativity scenes might, for all I know, have achieved an unofficial landmark status, like Coit Tower in San Francisco, the Space Needle in Seattle, or Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles–and I know what an uproar there would be opposing their removal.
‘If’ in that case is not hedging your statement, you’re using it as a declarative truth in order to tack on your ‘then’.
“If I had the power…” is not hedging - its saying what you would do - the fact that you don’t have the power does not make your attitude any less hypocritical.
“If I recall correctly …” - "If I understand this … " - thats hedging.
In any event, I’ll consider this part of the conversation ‘done’ -
a) none of those things are ‘religious’ in nature
b) all of those are ‘private’ buildings/items
c) none of those are funded by government funds.
If you would want the ‘religious’ bits removed - no matter the reason (in your case, because of ‘pagan’ origins)- which is the implication of your “if I had the power I would opppse them” - then you are hypocritical to say that the ‘atheists’ are bad for doing the same thing .
The scene was next door. Of course I saw it. And wasn’t offended a bit.
We had good friends who went to that church, and often went to their bazaar and spaghetti dinner at their center a bit further down the street.
Do stop inventing stuff - it is not very polite.
I probably overplayed my hand by implying (if, perhaps, I did not say so outright) that I would have Nativity scenes removed if I had the authority to do so. I would not in fact make such a drastic move.
Still, to have a creche juxtaposed with an antireligious message on an adjacent display is the visual equivalent of a strawberry pizza. :eek:
In any case, I would like to know:
How many Nativity displays, not on public property, are anywhere near Palisades Park (or Ocean Avenue in general) and other arterial streets in Santa Monica.
How this issue has been covered since the beginning in the Santa Monica Evening Outlook.
mmmmmmm - Strawberry Pizza!**
Your statement of “given the power, I would oppose them…” - is pretty much the same statement that every atheist makes - except it does not require ‘power’ to oppose something - since you are adding ‘power’ to the statement - it implies a more active opposition.
If that’s not what you meant - then choose your words better or atleast think before speaking.
As for your other questions - don’t know, don’t care - they are allowed to be there - just not unattended - you want to know how the ‘evening outlook’ handles it - go read it.
** (google image link - safe for work, not for diets)
Safe for work, not for diets? How’s that again?
Maybe you’d like to try “Hiker’s Grog,” as suggested by Dick DeBartolo in A MAD Guide to Leisure Time, p. 17 (1976):
1 box breakfast cereal
2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
3 cans of fruit salad
3 packages of iced tea
1 can of sardines
1 box of prunes
6 eggs
2 onions
1 pound of liver
8 containers of yogurt
2 dill pickles
1 can orange juice
Blend for 6 minutes and pour into a large thermos. Sounds appetizing, doesn’t it?
Actually, I will check your link for strawberry pizza…heck, I’ve eaten pizza with pineapple…
Simster, you may call yourself an atheist, but I think you must be psychic! I followed that link and sure enough there were** photos **of strawberry pizza! I had a dream about strawberry pizza almost forty years ago!!! :eek::eek:
Well, kind of. San Francisco’s Coit Tower is a city park, paid for by the city…but the money for it originally came from a private bequest. So, it isn’t exactly paid for by the taxpayers (unless the money from the original bequest has run out by now, which wouldn’t surprise me…)
Definitely not religious; its purpose was to “beautify the city.” There’ve been debates on that for a long time! (I think it’s nifty; many hold it to be an eyesore.)
Sort of halfway relating to the OP, I do cuss using religious language – but I also adore a lot of religious music and art. I’m a big fan of Bach and Vivaldi. I respect the beauty that religion has inspired, even at the same time I reject all religious faith itself.
I see it much the same as admiring all the beautiful art inspired by, say, Dungeons and Dragons. The source is banal…but there have been some gorgeous paintings done on the theme!
Hey, I like broccoli; at least, my parents taught me to eat what’s on the plate, and we did have a wide variety of foods. I have eaten some things a little bit out of the ordinary:
Sardines, in the can, slathered with mustard.
Big pretzels, slathered with mustard (but the big grains of salt scraped off).
Cottage cheese coated with black pepper.
Chili, and various Mexican dishes, with Parmesan cheese.
Cube steak on a sandwich, with cheese and Worcestershire sauce.
Indian (Hindu) vegetarian pizza; the only difference was it had no meat.
I’ve tasted few things I did not like. Kim chee (super-hot!); menudo (awful taste!) and carrot cookies (ditto!). I live in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County, anyway, and have yet to see a real strawberry pizza.
Well, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre may have been built with private capital; but I’m less sure about the Space Needle, built for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair.
I try as much as possible to substitute “Og” wherever I might otherwise use “God” in an exclamation. I firmly believe it is the duty of all atheist Dopers to attempt to rectify their vocabulary similarly.
