Sign From 'Your Atheist Neighbors' Proposed for Bethel

BETHEL, CT — The selectmen met Monday night and approved guidelines on what displays are allowed in P. T. Barnum Square, the News Times is reporting. They will vote next week on an application to put a banner in the square that reads "Happy Holidays" and is signed "your atheist neighbors."

The flurry of activity is in the wake of a letter the town received from The American Atheists Legal Center demanding the selectmen rescind their approval of a new nativity scene erected in the square on Nov. 17.

Before a packed room, the selectmen decided to defer their decision about the banner application until Dec. 4, as they did not know how big it was or what their options were to place it elsewhere.

Religious displays are forbidden in front of Town Hall, but the atheist banner, being non-religious, might be legally acceptable on government property, where it would not compete for attention with the Christian display in the town square.

The national athiest group got involved when the town rejected an application for a non-religious display from Bethel resident James Naddeo, on the grounds the application was missing an insurance form and an image of the display, which are required.

Thise data have since been submitted: The proposed sign shows a blue sky with snow falling on white-capped mountains, and reads “This season, no matter what you celebrate or why, Happy Holidays! — your atheist neighbors.”

Image via Shutterstock.