Every Christmas season, the Grinches whine about how “offended” they are by the sight of Christmas trees and Nativity scenes. Ornaments, twinkly lights and the newborn Christ Child are just too much for their tender feelings.
However, a recent “holiday” display on the Leesburg courthouse lawn set a new bar for offensive.
Middleburg resident Jeff Heflin, Jr. used Loudoun County’s “inclusive” rules on holiday displays to erect a crucified skeleton wearing a Santa suit on the Leesburg courthouse lawn. Heflin told Leesburg Today that his “piece of art work” was meant to “depict society’s materialistic obsessions and addictions and how it is killing the peace, love, joy and kindness that is supposed to be prevalent during the holiday season.”
What a crock.
Newly elected Loudoun Supervisor Ken Reid – who as a Town Council member helped craft the compromise allowing a wide variety of religious and secular symbols to be displayed on the courthouse lawn during December instead of banning them altogether – zeroed in on the true intent behind “Crucified Santa.”
“This was clearly designed to provoke angst and offend people,” Reid told The Washington Examiner.
“Just the way Christians have rallied against anti-Semitism and support Israel, I, as a Jew, will return the favor and help lead the fight to stop this mockery of Christmas and Christian beliefs,” he said.
The vandalized “Crucified Santa” and a sarcastic “Letter From Jesus” billboard was removed from the courthouse lawn sometime after Monday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. Reid says he’s concerned about the impact the controversy will have on Leesburg’s Christmas parade on Saturday. “I’m going to be in my Hannukah mobile.”
But the conflict is far from over.
“For 50 years, nobody complained,“ Reid said. “Then in 2009, this obscure committee banned the Christmas tree and crèche. Guidelines adopted by the Board of Supervisors allowed atheists to drive a truck through them.”
“Crucified Santa” is gone for now, but mean-spirited Grinches who can’t stand the thought of Christians celebrating Christmas in public will likely be back. Meanwhile, otherwise outspoken advocates of “tolerance” and “diversity” remain silent in the face of their deliberate affront.
That’s really offensive.
