FFRF gets holiday displays in Illinois

FFRF has put up an a pair of exhibits during the holiday season in Illinois.

One is set up at an Illinois courthouse honoring the Bill of Rights to counter a Chrstian creche. The display was installed by FFRF Member Will Meyer at the Grundy County Courthouse on Nov. 23 and will be available for public viewing until the end of December.

The mainstay of the tableau is FFRF’s playful Bill of Rights “nativity.” The irreverent cutout by artist Jacob Fortin depicts Founding Fathers Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington gazing adoringly at a “baby” Bill of Rights in a manger while the Statue of Liberty looks on. A sign beside the tongue-in-cheek nativity states:

“Happy Winter Solstice. At this Season of the Winter Solstice, we honor reason and the Bill of Rights (adopted Dec. 15, 1791).” At the bottom, it reads: “Keep State & Church Separate.”

The other display is FFRF’s Winter Solstice sign that

has proudly been on view at the Illinois Capitol for 10 years running, to balance a Christian nativity display. The exhibit was installed by FFRF Member Kathryn Koldehoff in Springfield  and will be up until the end of December.

The green and red sign contains a secular message, composed by the late Anne Nicol Gaylor, FFRF’s principal founder:

“At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail.

“There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell.

“There is only our natural world.

“Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”