Town officials in Glenview, Illinois, a northern Chicago suburb, have ordered all Christmas decorations removed from the inside of a firehouse. Some residents complained that they could see Christmas lights, a Christmas tree and a Santa Claus inside Glenview’s Station No. 7 when they drove down Glenview Road. Village officials declared that they want “to make sure that our public buildings remain neutral.” They pointed out that they also banned a menorah from public property.
Catholic League president William Donohue commented as follows:
“Glenview’s town officials are free to develop their own policies, but no one has to accept their lies. This has nothing to do with remaining neutral—it has everything to do with deliberately seeking to snuff out Christmas. Everyone knows that Christmas lights, Christmas trees and Santa Claus are secular symbols, but because they are obviously associated with a religious holiday, it is enough for those who hate Christianity to ban them. Moreover, to say that the policy is neutral because it also bans menorahs from public property is another lie: a menorah is a religious symbol.
“In Castro’s Cuba, Catholics celebrate Christmas with their curtains drawn. This is exactly what the cultural fascists would like to do in the U.S. It is not sufficient that they avert their eyes when they see something that reminds them of Christmas—now they literally peer in the windows of firehouses in their annual search and destroy operation. And make no mistake about it, all of this is done because they are offended by any reference to Jesus.”
