No crib for a bed

On a manicured lawn within the grounds of the Arkansas state capitol in Little Rock a Nativity scene is erected each Advent.

On a manicured lawn within the grounds of the Arkansas state capitol in Little Rock a Nativity scene is erected each Advent. It is causing all sorts of problems. Shouldnt other religions or,for that matter,those who reject organised religion altogether get their chance to show off? Doesnt the display amount to a violation of the canonical separation of religion and politics?

Arkansass Society of Freethinkers certainly thinks so. It has attempted to mount a winter solstice display at the capitol for the past two years. In 2008 its proposal was said to be too vague. So this year the group submitted a detailed plan with drawings,only to be rejected again. We determined this display is inconsistent with the holiday tone that our office is striving to create on the capitol grounds during the holiday season, says a spokesman for the Arkansas secretary of state.

The Freethinkers exhibit is a Box of Knowledgea cube with pictures of free thinkers they like such as Abraham Lincoln and Bill Gates,an explanation of the winter solstice,covers of free thinking books and scientific facts about evolution. The Freethinkers say that they are not necessarily atheists,but include agnostics,secular humanists,deists and Unitarian Universalists.

Other states face similar dramas. In Ann Arbor,Michigan,the Freedom from Religion Foundation complained about a Nativity scene on a highway median that has been displayed for 63 years. The same group filed a similar lawsuit in Wisconsin last year. That case is continuing,but in Michigan,local authorities refused permission to the Nativity display this year.

The Arkansas Freethinkers do not want the Little Rock Nativity scene removed. They simply want the state to set up a free-speech zone and let them be part of it,along with Jews,Buddhists,Hindus and Muslims. The holiday is big enough to accommodate everyone, says Tod Billings,a Freethinker.

Some say that this will lead to chaos. In Olympia,Washington,the capitols all-inclusive free-speech zone became hopelessly overcrowded. Even the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster mounted a display. This year the state has banned the lot. The only evidence of the holidays? An evergreen tree in the capitols rotunda. Its definitely not a Christmas tree,mind.