It’s Chanukah today and Christmas is right around the corner. Downtown Santa Cruz can expect to see the usual collection of decorated trees and burning menorahs lighting up the downtown area. This year, however, there may be one noticeable addition. At Saturday’s holiday season parade, a coalition of the Santa Cruz Brights, UCSC Secular Student Alliance and Secular Humanists of Santa Cruz County will be marching alongside their religious neighbors with a banner that reads: “Reason’s Greetings!” They hope to display the banner prominently downtown and are hoping to get a permit for it.
City ordinance requires that such a display have 24-hour security. Atheist and humanist representatives are now looking into the permit that Chabad received to house its menorah downtown last year. In that case, the need for round-the-clock security was waived.
Of course, the desire to display the banner comes with far less religious fervor than either the menorah of the Christmas tree. “If we find a place to do it this year, we’ll be thrilled,” says Howard Burman, who helped organize the banner-posting plan. “Ootherwise we’ll do it next year,” he added. Read more at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
