We strolled by Denver’s city hall this week to be sure our memory hadn’t failed us. And sure enough, there on the east steps was a Nativity scene, just as we’d remembered it. Not that it would be easy to forget: It graces the same spot every year during the holiday season.
Our need to confirm the ongoing life of this display was prompted by a recent story out of Evergreen in which a Hanukkah menorah was banned at a community center because Denver owns the site and has a rule against religious decorations on public property.
Denver may have such a rule — and it may generally amount to sound policy, too — but the city obviously allows one big exception every year.
And why not? As the U.S. Supreme Court argued in 1984, when it affirmed that a crèche did not necessarily violate the First Amendment, the Constitution “affirmatively mandates accommodation, not merely tolerance, of all religions … .”
If a Christian religious symbol is permitted in Denver on public land, then the city should hardly be in the business of barring a Jewish religious symbol associated with a genuine holiday from public property, either.
Although the Evergreen Park & Recreation district reversed itself Tuesday and will permit display of the menorah this year, the issue is hardly settled. That’s because Denver’s Parks and Recreation department, which the Evergreen district answers to at the site, intends to clarify its rules for future years.
Here’s our advice: Make an exception for Evergreen. Let the menorah be.
After all, the menorah marked Hanukkah at the back of Evergreen’s Lake House community center from 2005 to 2009 (adjacent to a large Christmas tree with lights) without doing any harm. Why suddenly is there so much concern for a principle that Denver itself doesn’t adhere to across the board?
It’s not as if Denver only recently became a factor in the mix; it’s owned Lake House for more than a century.
We realize some people object to any governmental recognition of religious holidays, but such a policy becomes all but impossible at Christmas time. Like it or not, Christmas is so deeply embedded in the culture that it straddles both the religious and secular worlds.
Millions of people who don’t subscribe to the Christian faith celebrate Christmas with trees, decorations, presents and feasting. If we were really determined to keep government and Christmas at arm’s length, after all, the first thing we would have to do is rescind the holiday for government workers.
And if government is going to acknowledge Christmas, it can acknowledge Hanukkah without trampling on the Constitution, too.
In 2006, the Evergreen park board approved a policy allowing only nondenominational displays, while adding that “holiday lights and Menorah will be exempt from this policy.” If Denver wants to be a good long-distance property owner, it should defer to Evergreen’s stated desires.
