Last October, a resident of Bethel, Connecticut contacted American Atheists because of a local church/state separation problem. There was going to be a Nativity scene outside the town’s municipal building, and the resident wanted to counter it with a display of his own. AA asked the city for instructions on the resident’s behalf.
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So what’s happening this year? In theory, everybody has to fill out an application. (Success!) That’s what the Board of Selectmen said at a meeting on Tuesday night. Kind of. According to the minutes of that meeting, there wasn’t enough space to accommodate everyone who wanted a display, so the officials were only going to allow one display for now.
First Selectman Knickerbocker stated that due to concerns with the limited space [the Board] would accept the first completed application they received and acknowledging [sic] the other request he would like to establish a Display Policy Committee after the first of the year and formalize a written display policy for the future.
Ah. So all the atheists had to do was get that application in immediately and…
Wait. That meeting occurred at 6:30pm on Tuesday night. That agenda item was therefore approved sometime after that. It just so happens that a local newspaper published a piece an hour before the meeting indicating that the town had already approved a Nativity scene… and that First Selectman Knickerbocker would be speaking at the event.