DECK THE HALLS

It's nice to see the forces of good win one every once in awhile. Speaking as a Catholic, I have no problem with the free exercise of religion. All religions. Like all other speech, as long it does no harm bring it on. That's what the First Amendment is all about. Let ideas be bought and sold in the marketplace of freedom.

"Bowing to an outpouring of protests from residents, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors reversed a week-old rule Tuesday that had banned public displays, including Nativity scenes and Christmas trees, at the county courthouse.

Supervisors voted 7 to 1 to allow community groups "equal access" to the courthouse grounds. The supervisor who voted to keep the ban, James Burton (I-Blue Ridge), said he feared that extremist groups would turn the century-old courthouse in downtown Leesburg into a "public circus."

Dozens of residents carrying signs and wearing Christmas red showed up at a county meeting Monday night to protest the rule, saying that it would ruin the county's holiday parade, set for Dec. 12. A decorated Christmas tree and a Nativity scene have been seasonal fixtures on the courthouse lawn for decades."

Washington Post