News
Citing Presence Of Menorah - MB Residents Demand Manger Scene For Borough Hall
By Sherry Conohan
MONMOUTH BEACH - Where's the manger? That was the question posed by several residents at the Monmouth Beach Commission meeting of Thursday, Dec. 17, who complained there was a menorah in front of Borough Hall but no manger.
The residents demanded that a manger scene be put in front of Borough Hall along with the Menorah and, in the end, the commissioners agreed to do it.
The issue was initially put before the commission during the public comment segment by Keven Keeshen, who complained bitterly about the lack of a manger.
Several other residents spoke in his support. "If the borough has a menorah, why not a manger?" he asked.
Dennis Collins the borough attorney said there was no manger because that was a Christian, religious symbol that some people take offense at. He noted lawsuits had been brought in some locales, particularly by the American Civil Liberties Union, against the display of a manger scene. A call to the NJ office of the ACLU was not returned by the TRT's early presstime this week. However, in a recent blog entry on the organization's website, (www. aclu.org), ACLU attorney Suzanne Ito explained the ACLU's position.
In her blog entry titled, " A Cross is a Cross, especially on Government Land," Ito writes, "The ACLU has always defended the First Amendment rights of individuals to freely practice their religion, or no religion at all. But the government's display of the (...) cross violates that same First Amendment right by privileging one set of beliefs over all others. Or put it this way: A giant cross in front of a church or on your front lawn is fine, and we'd defend your constitutional right to these displays. But a giant cross on government land is not."
At the Monmouth Beach meeting, Collins pointed out the borough has lights on a tree in front of Borough Hall that symbolize Christmas. Keeshen said the lighted tree symbolizes Santa Claus and gifts. He said a manger was needed to symbolize the birth of Jesus Christ. "What would be the harm in putting up a manger?" he asked. Sue McDonald commented that when the borough sent out a message to residents about the lighting of the tree, it called it a "Christmas tree" and said several people had told her it was good that it was called a "Christmas tree."
Borough Clerk Joyce Escalante volunteered that her predecessor as borough clerk, the late Bonnie Moore, used to put out both a menorah and a manger. But one year she got complaints about the manger, regarding the separation of church and state, and never put the manger out again, she said. Commissioner William McBride said he didn't think any of the three commissioners had a problem with putting out a manger scene.
It was then reported that no one knew what had become of the borough's manger set. Andy Cancalosi then volunteered to let the borough use his.
Mayor Sue Howard said the next day that Keeshen had gone out and bought a manger scene for the borough, ending the dilemma over the display.
