If it is a Facebook meme, it most likely is not true. The first image is of a nativity that was donated to Arlington Heights Park District. The park turned down the donation and the donor lawyered up. However, the park said that the donor never filled out the proper paper work.
But Timothy Riordan, the attorney for the Arlington Heights Park District, said Finnegan had simply never filled out an application for a permit. Instead, he asked the district to accept a donation of a nativity they didn’t want.The second image is of a painting on display at Boston's Bunker Hill Community College Art Gallery.
“In our view there’s no real controversy,” Riordan said.
He sent Finnegan’s lawyer an application for a park use permit on Nov. 26.
“He wanted to donate the nativity scene to the park district," Riordan said. "The park district indicated it wasn’t interested in accepting that donation. The park always had a holiday display and just didn’t think it was consistent with the display they’d had in the past. If you want to use a park for any purpose, there’s a form.”
Finnegan said Tuesday that he plans to apply for a permit to place the nativity in a different part of the same park. [1]
“I always regretted cancelling my exhibit in New York because I feel my First Amendment rights should override someone’s hurt feelings,” D’Antuono told Fox News. “We should celebrate the fact that we live in a country where we are given the freedom to express ourselves.”
“The crucifixion of the president was meant metaphorically,” he continued. “My intent was not to compare him to Jesus.”
D’Antuono blamed the controversy on conservative media “trying to promote the idea that liberals believe the president to literally be our savior.” [2]So we have a nativity that is not banned in Chicago and a painting in an art gallery. These Facebook memes should be sourced. More to the point, the nativity display is intended on public land. I would guess that there are many nativities displayed in Chicago this time of year.
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