Rabbi shocked at results of Christmas Tree lawsuit.
Published Mon, Dec 11 2006 1:54 PM
Technorati Tags: News and Politics, Political Correctness
In today's Seattle Times, we learn that Seattle Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky is "shocked and appalled" at the results of his [threatened] lawsuit against Seattle-Tacoma International Airport...
The departure of Christmas tree displays at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport — the Port of Seattle's response to a local rabbi's insistence that an electric menorah also be put up — is accelerating into an international spectacle in the so-called "war on Christmas."
And that is not what Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky wanted.
"I am devastated, shocked and appalled at the decision that the Port of Seattle came to," he said Sunday. As news coverage about the airport's trees spread from CNN to ABC to the Paris-based International Herald Tribune, Bogomilsky on Sunday began to receive hateful messages from people holding him responsible for the removal of the trees.
What did he expect them to do when he [threatened to] filed the lawsuit? In today's overly sensitive, politically correct climate the ACLU has prompted local officials across the country to remove displays that might be somehow interpreted as having anything to do with Christianity on public property. Threatened with a lawsuit, the Port of Seattle may have overreacted, but their reaction makes sense in today's litigious climate.
The displays were removed from the airport's main arrival hall and various entries overnight Friday.
Port staff members were first contacted in October by Mitchell Stein, a consultant to the Port for the past five years, who wanted to install a menorah this year. Stein is also affiliated with Chabad.
"We thought the Port was going to make the right decision to support diversity and Hanukkah," Stein said. "The lawsuit was only a way to get their attention."
It certainly got attention. My earlier posting on this has been by far the most popular posting I have written on this blog yet. The Seattle Times has received nearly a thousand comments on the topic.
The airport has no policy governing the longtime holiday display because no one has ever challenged it before, Betancourt said.
"What we have are holiday trees," she said. "If we are going to display symbols representing other cultures, we have to think what that means and what's respectful and what would make a good display. Maybe it would be 'Holidays of the World.'
"Or maybe it's snowmen."
Or maybe it's just Christmas. After all, it is a National Holiday.
Grad (Rabbi Bogomilsky's Lawyer) said he cautioned officials that they were about to make a mistake by removing the trees.
"I told them that this story would have legs, that it would go national," Grad said. The publicity fallout is regrettable, Davis said.
...
Bogomilsky said he wants the Port to apologize for statements on Saturday that he says passed blame to him.
"I would hate to think it was just a way for them to cover up their poor call," the rabbi said. "This was totally a Port of Seattle decision. The Port should step up and say that."
Or maybe this is exactly the result he wanted and he's surprised at the amount of ill will it has generated? Rabbi Bogomilsky is responsible for this mess because he's the one that threatened the Port of Seattle with the lawsuit.
Earlier Postings:
Trackposted to Wake Up America, Perri Nelson's Website, Permanent Floating Ping Festival, The Random Yak, third world county, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, Blue Star Chronicles, Pirate's Cove, The Bullwinkle Blog, Pursuing Holiness, and bRight & Early, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
Also linked at Basil's Blog.
UPDATE: As far as I can tell, the Rabbi only threatened to file a lawsuit. No actual lawsuit was filed. The post above has been edited to reflect this.
UPDATE #2: I no longer believe that Rabbi Bogomilsky intended for this to go as far as it did. I remark on that here.
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