Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
12/21/2006
Dec. 21--OLYMPIA -- Holiday trees are a longtime tradition in the rotunda of the Washington state Capitol, and this week the governor also lit a menorah.
Now a Nativity scene has been ruled out on the advice of the state attorney general's office.
The dispute over displays in the ornate Legislative Building follows a flap at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in which a rabbi asked to place a menorah next to some plastic Christmas trees and threatened legal action if he were refused. The trees were removed, then returned -- without a menorah -- after the rabbi said he would not go to court.
Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky of Chabad Lubavitch in Seattle, whose request led to the nationally publicized uproar at the airport, was delighted Monday afternoon when Gov. Chris Gregoire lit a menorah in a ceremony with singing from the Menachem Mendel Seattle Cheder School choir.
The menorah, a candelabrum lit by Jews to celebrate Hanukkah, was added to the rotunda in response to a request Bogomilsky made more than a year ago, officials in the governor's office said.
"This went not just smoothly, it went with open hands. There were just such wonderful words of understanding," Bogomilsky said. "Clearly, if we can increase light and illumination throughout the world, that is such a wonderful thing for all mankind."
Ron Wesselius, a real estate agent in Olympia, then proposed a creche, a display depicting the birth of Jesus that is the religious basis for Christmas.
"I had been thinking about it, but it's one of those things -- you don't want to create waves," Wesselius said Wednesday, "but when I saw the menorah was there, I thought, 'Hey, why don't I ask?'"
He said he didn't know whether he would seek to change the state's decision.
"Working with the people at the Capitol, they were great, but being turned down really surprised me," he said.
Steve Valandra, a spokesman for the Department of General Administration, officials were concerned that in comparison with a tree or menorah, a Nativity scene might carry a stronger impression of government endorsement of religion.
In addition, since Wesselius made his request only this week, lawyers for the state felt there was insufficient time to fully research the issue, Valandra said.
"Based on that, without having more time, we had to say no," he said.
Controversy over holiday displays is not new to the Capitol. Last year state Rep. John Ahern, R-Spokane, staged a protest in the rotunda demanding the Association of Washington Business call its donated tree a Christmas tree instead of a holiday tree.
At that time, Ahern also suggested adding a menorah.
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To see more of The Bellingham Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bellinghamherald.com.
Copyright (c) 2006, The Bellingham Herald, Wash.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
12/21/2006
Dec. 21--OLYMPIA -- Holiday trees are a longtime tradition in the rotunda of the Washington state Capitol, and this week the governor also lit a menorah.
Now a Nativity scene has been ruled out on the advice of the state attorney general's office.
The dispute over displays in the ornate Legislative Building follows a flap at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in which a rabbi asked to place a menorah next to some plastic Christmas trees and threatened legal action if he were refused. The trees were removed, then returned -- without a menorah -- after the rabbi said he would not go to court.
Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky of Chabad Lubavitch in Seattle, whose request led to the nationally publicized uproar at the airport, was delighted Monday afternoon when Gov. Chris Gregoire lit a menorah in a ceremony with singing from the Menachem Mendel Seattle Cheder School choir.
The menorah, a candelabrum lit by Jews to celebrate Hanukkah, was added to the rotunda in response to a request Bogomilsky made more than a year ago, officials in the governor's office said.
"This went not just smoothly, it went with open hands. There were just such wonderful words of understanding," Bogomilsky said. "Clearly, if we can increase light and illumination throughout the world, that is such a wonderful thing for all mankind."
Ron Wesselius, a real estate agent in Olympia, then proposed a creche, a display depicting the birth of Jesus that is the religious basis for Christmas.
"I had been thinking about it, but it's one of those things -- you don't want to create waves," Wesselius said Wednesday, "but when I saw the menorah was there, I thought, 'Hey, why don't I ask?'"
He said he didn't know whether he would seek to change the state's decision.
"Working with the people at the Capitol, they were great, but being turned down really surprised me," he said.
Steve Valandra, a spokesman for the Department of General Administration, officials were concerned that in comparison with a tree or menorah, a Nativity scene might carry a stronger impression of government endorsement of religion.
In addition, since Wesselius made his request only this week, lawyers for the state felt there was insufficient time to fully research the issue, Valandra said.
"Based on that, without having more time, we had to say no," he said.
Controversy over holiday displays is not new to the Capitol. Last year state Rep. John Ahern, R-Spokane, staged a protest in the rotunda demanding the Association of Washington Business call its donated tree a Christmas tree instead of a holiday tree.
At that time, Ahern also suggested adding a menorah.
-----
To see more of The Bellingham Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bellinghamherald.com.
Copyright (c) 2006, The Bellingham Herald, Wash.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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