Religion police run amok

Here's a good last-minute gift idea: Why don't the guys at Charleston Fire Station No. 12 box up their Nativity scene and Fed Ex it to the Freedom from Religion Foundation in Wisconsin?

Sounds like they could use a few wise men up there.

Because, make no mistake, sending a legal threat halfway across the country that forced firefighters to take down Christmas decorations is the stupidest thing that's happened around here in weeks.

Fire stations across the country have decorated like this for years, and it has not pushed the United States down the slippery slope toward a religious state. If anything, Gallup polls show that the number of people who consider religion important in their lives has dropped nearly 10 percent in the last decade.

It's not like there was a shrine to Christianity in the tax collectors' office or city hall; there was no implied "thou shall worship," no banner proclaiming "Charleston: Proud Sponsor of Religion."

This is a fire hall, a place where firefighters essentially live. Since they have to stay there around the clock, waiting to save our houses, it's only fair that they get to add a few touches of home. If they want a manger, what's the harm?

The letter of the law

This week, some folks criticized the city for initially bowing to the will of these Cheesehead Scrooges. But the city made the right call. There's no reason to spend tax dollars on a court battle that's been fought, and lost, ad nauseam.

Like it or not, the Freedom from Religion Foundation has the law on its side.

There are a lot of people who like to say "separation of church and state" doesn't appear in the Constitution. True enough; the phrase comes from Thomas Jefferson.

But the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment prohibits the government from supporting one religion over another, and also bans Congress from setting up its own religion (henceforth called "earmarks").

These days, a lot of people have been throwing around the Constitution's weight. The talking point du jour is that since government-provided health care is not in the Constitution, the president and Congress have no right to set up such a system. Try arguing that with a Medicare recipient.

Well, health care may not be in the Constitution, but this issue is addressed. And we don't have the luxury of picking and choosing which parts of it we follow, as much as some people try.

Be on the lookout ...

On Tuesday, the fire department put the Nativity back up, along with displays of other religious and non-religious holidays. That's fine, even if it smacks of making a Gamecocks fan hang a tiger paw flag on his front porch.

This, by the way, is not a war on the holiday. No one has declared jihad on obese illegal immigrants who skirt tariff laws by smuggling products into the country for "good little girls and boys." This is about religion.

The problem is that the Freedom from Religion Foundation is picking a fight where one does not exist. Freedom of religion, by definition, includes the option "none of the above."

Part of that freedom is, You do your thing, I'll do mine. People need to stop being so sensitive about others' "thing."

No one says they have to get religion, but they ought to get a life.