Holy Moses! What the hell is this?

Why are the Governor of Massachusetts and two state legislators lighting a menorah inside the statehouse?

It looks like I’m going to have to declare war on Chanukah as well as Christmas.

Apparently, it’s customary at the Massachusetts statehouse for public officials to ceremoniously light a giant menorah at the beginning of Chanukah. As a resident of Massachusetts it pains me to say I knew nothing about this, although I was aware that a Christmas tree—or what has officially been dubbed a “Holiday tree”—is placed and lit on the statehouse lawn each December. Truth be told, I’m uneasy about the Holiday tree because of its inherent Christmas association, but the menorah lighting is way beyond the pale.

The worst part of it is, according to the present Supreme Court, neither the tree on the lawn nor even the ostentatious menorah in the statehouse itself would seem to constitute a violation of the Establishment Clause. As SCOTUS ruled in Van Orden v. Perry (2005), a statue of the Ten Commandments displayed on the lawn of the Texas statehouse does not constitute an explicit endorsement of religion, and therefore the display was ruled constitutional. Furthermore, the majority opinion in that case was rife with vague references to “the strong role played by religion and religious traditions throughout our Nation’s history,” which is a quasi-subtle way of claiming that Christianity has played a strong role in American life.

Can I get little help on this from principal architect of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights on this?

Every new and successful example, therefore, of a perfect separation between the ecclesiastical and civil matters, is of importance; and I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in showing that religion and Government will both exist in greater purity the less they are mixed together.

James Madison (Letter to Edward Livingston, July 10, 1822)

Thanks, Jimmy.

- Max