For the eighth consectutive year since I've moved up to this part of the world, what is the City council having to concern itself with? Low-performing schools? Racism? Homophobia? Poverty? Fuck, no, none of that shit's important. NATIVITY SCENE! THAT'S what gets the Burghers of Lafayette going, the Great Nativity Scene War! Every year, there is a request made to stick a roto-moulded "Holy Family" along with the plywood lean-to and bales of straw on the courthouse lawn. And every year, citing the Establishment Clause, the Council denies the request. Then the local garbage wrapper gets the LTTE page inundated with tearful pleas to "Puh-LEEEEZ let the widdle Bay-BEE Jeebus come visit on the courthouse lawn. What's it gonna hurt, anyway? Why are the city fathers so scared of that O'Hare woman?" (uh, maybe because she's DEAD?) Then an old retired fellow builds a nativity scene in the back of his truck and parks it in front of the courthouse every evening till Xmas. I think it hit the height of ridiculous this year, though. For the past 2 years, the city has had a fundraising "art" project. last year, it was fiberglass pigs, all decorated up, dressed, painted, what-have-you. This year it was frogs. the statues are decorated by area artists and school kids, displayed for a few weeks in the summer, then auctioned off. One of yeterday's petitioners for the Bay-Bee Jeebus actually mentioned the pigs and frogs. Said "It's a SHAME that Lafayette can make room for pigs and frogs on the street, but can't find room for the Christ Child..." Now, you may be wondering, is there a ban on PRIVATE natitvity displays? of COURSE not. In fact, if you go out to the mega-church on the far-east side, (the church that was just granted public bonds to build a "community senter" with an indoor pool)you can enjoy the LIVE drive-through natvity scene. Real Animals! llamas dressd up like camels! But I digress. This year, they've given up on the courthouse. they thought they could get a 3-week run over on the Plaza down by the river, but the council nixxed that, too. Seems there's no policy regarding "displays" on Riehle Plaza, but they weren't about to approve a 3-week "Event", either. I suppose it never occured to these people to stick their roto-moulded effigies in the front yard of their OWN homes or churches, did it?

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