| Concerning Lloyd Ash’s letter to the editor "Secular Showdown" (Letters, Jan. 8 - Jan. 14, 2004)
Secular humanism affirms the right of the individual to maximum possible freedom compatible with the rights of others. One of those rights is the freedom of conscience and religion (Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Section 2). Another right is that "every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on... religion," (Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Section 15, (1)).
It is up to our governments on all levels to see to it that religious freedom flourishes in our country. The only way to accomplish this is to erect a wall of separation between church and state. When church and state mix, both institutions are compromised. Curtailing of civil liberties for the citizenry and the corruption of religious leaders has been the result every single time any religion has wielded political power or the state became a theocracy.
Another reason is that the state must not be allowed to either discourage or encourage its citizens with regard to any religion. To do so is to violate our right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law based on religion. By owning, storing and displaying a nativity scene the city is not observing the rights of non-Christians in this city.
The secular humanists of this city don’t want to see the nativity scene destroyed, defiled or hidden in any way. They would all applaud the freedom of religious expression that it symbolizes. But it is the Christian organizations that should own, store and display it, not our city.
Eric Suderman,
board member of the Society for Secular Humanists in Calgary
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