From my inbox (via newsday.com):
Christmas debate at Manhasset tree lighting
--------------------
BY CAROL EISENBERG
STAFF WRITER
When the Rev. Nick Zientarski invoked the name of Jesus Christ during his traditional blessing of the official Christmas tree lighting in Manhasset last week, he had no idea he had signed on as a soldier in the culture wars over Christmas.
Even as he spoke, the Roman Catholic priest said he could hear North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman angrily objecting behind him, "this is inappropriate." Then, Kaiman got up and told the crowd, "I just want to make it clear that this is in no way a religious ceremony."
A collective gasp came from the 200 adults and children gathered around the gazebo across from Town Hall. Nothing has been the same since in this well-heeled community that counts at least a dozen houses of worship in about 2 square miles.
"I have to tell you that Manhasset is in an uproar" over Kaiman's remarks, said Christine Roberts, who is Jewish and attended the ceremony with her two sons. "It really was the wrong thing to say at the wrong time. There is a lot of hostility going around. Angry letters to the editor of the local paper. Angry conversations. Insanity has absolutely overtaken this town."
John Kiggins, owner of Manhasset Sporting Goods, was so angry with the "disrespectful" way Kaiman treated the priest that he sent him a furious e-mail. "Manhasset is a predominantly Christian town and it's a conservative town," said Kiggins, a parishioner at St. Mary's, where Zientarski is a priest. "There's a certain number of us who believe that if we're celebrating Christmas, then call it Christmas and recognize that we're celebrating the birth of Christ. And the event was billed as a Christmas tree lighting. Had it not been billed that way, I probably wouldn't have gone."
A week later, despite public mea culpas from a white-faced Kaiman at a meeting Wednesday night and, again, in a letter to the editor in yesterday's Manhasset Press, angry constituents are still calling and sending letters. Some did not even witness the event, but heard about it through a widely disseminated e-mail from the priest.
Read more here
And you thought we had it bad with our Holiday Tree fiasco. Now remember, this is the Town Supervisor were talking about here, who had this to say: "The reaction also has stunned and humbled Kaiman. "I overreacted and handled the situation poorly," he acknowledged in an interview yesterday. Kaiman said he had arrived at the park expecting a more nonsectarian holiday event because it is sponsored by the Manhasset Park District, the town and the local Chamber of Commerce.
Now don't you think thats something the SUPERVISOR of a town should know? I could throw out some numbers off the top of my head about Manhasset's religious make-up and probably come close to the actual numbers. It's a fairly religious town, with Roman Catholics and Jews making up a good portion of the towns inhabitants. And when you invite a Roman Catholic preist to the CHRISTMAS tree lighting, and ask him to say a few words - well, what the hell do you expect?
Well, thats one supervisor who will be looking for another job soon. See Roanoke, be thankful Mayor Harris has the sense to not just blurt out anything like that. It could be a lot worse.
No comments:
Post a Comment