Seattle Airport Mulls Ban on Religious Symbols
For the second time, the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is considering a ban on religious symbols during the end-of-the-year holiday season.
According to the Port of Seattle's Holiday Decorations Advisory Committee, the airport is expected to be decked out in festival attire during the holidays, but officials will not include religious symbols in the festivities.
A Christian legal group, Liberty Counsel, is worried about the reoccurring circumstance, however, and is threatening legal action if the airport holds its position.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"Obviously, Liberty Counsel will get involved as we did last year with this airport," said Mat Staver, the founder of Liberty Counsel, according to One News Now. "We sent a letter [last year] demanding that they return the Christmas decorations to the airport – and with the public outcry, the airport did. This year, obviously, we're back to the battleground again, and we're certainly going to go to bat for protecting Christmas."
The first incident occurred last December when a rabbi complained about nine Christmas trees that were decorated in the terminals. He said he would sue the airport for religious discrimination unless they added a menorah to the decorations.
The trees were pulled from display to avoid litigation, but were later put back into view after the rabbi explained that he had not wanted their removal and after pressure from Liberty Counsel lawyers.
The Seattle committee is now proposing a policy prohibiting any kind of religious symbols for the upcoming holiday and Christmas season to avoid future problems.
Christian attorneys from Liberty Counsel are threatening legal action if the international airport decides to keep the policy, however.
They argue that Christmas decorations are historical more than religious, and that they are not biased towards Christians. The public has no problem with the ornamentation, they urge.
Also, Christmas trees are not even a Christian symbol, they added. They are censoring things that are not even applicable.
"I think it's ridiculous in a country where we have December 25 as a state and federal holiday to celebrate and honor Christmas," added Staver, "something that's rooted in the history of America – that governmental entities would come to censor it out."
