To the editor:
After the nice article about the great Halloween party, with kids and parents all having fun in Manchester celebrating a religious custom of sorts — All Hallows Eve, with Christian roots — now we read that a living Nativity scene is banned?
And it's one planned for an hour on Christmas Eve! (Times, news story Nov. 23; editorial, Nov. 25)
Why? Because some of the selectmen think it is inappropriate to allow a "religious" display on the Town Common?
What have we come to?
It's Christmas, for heavens sake. It's an historic event. There was a manger, a donkey, Jesus Christ was born.
What are they afraid of? Let's hear some of the legal issues. If Halloween has been a long-standing tradition, how long has Christmas been a tradition, not only on the Common, but in the schools?
We sat back and let the schools secularize our kids' Christmas experience with "holiday" concerts, "holiday" trees, etc., but it's time to stop this nonsense.
If the selectmen feel the need to stop a Nativity scene in Manchester by the Sea, I feel sorry for them.
There comes a time when "politically correct" gets old. Christmas will be here for a long time to come.
Where are the churches? Speak up while you can.
joan macdougall
Manchester
