It’s hard to have yourself a merry little Christmas when the grown-ups are fighting over who let a controversial group take part in the yule parade and whether local government should muzzle certain parade participants.
Let’s try to sort this out.
During Crestview’s Christmas parade Dec. 1, something called the Save Me From the Fire ministry startled onlookers. According to the Crestview News Bulletin’s Matthew Brown, “Student minister James Forrester shouted disparaging remarks … about homosexuals, said Santa Claus wasn’t real and damned parade spectators to hell.”
Parents were outraged. The Main Street Crestview Association, which puts on the parade, was miffed. Association members met four days later and batted around ideas to, as one said, “fix it.”
One idea was to put potential troublemakers in their place. “I think that we can reasonably … determine the placement of those units at the end of the parade,” Ellis Conner said.
Pat Hollarn rightly cautioned against that tactic. She said each organization should be treated equally. “Not one moment of hostility,” she said, “can be shown toward any group.”
All agreed the city shouldn’t try to squelch participants’ free-speech rights.
The best way to “fix it” may simply be to hope that Save Me From the Fire’s fire-breathers learn better manners. A Christmas parade isn’t the place to stoke anger and dash children’s dreams.
Besides, we don’t understand what Save Me From the Fire has against ol’ St. Nick. No less an authority than Gene Autry, who turned “Here Comes Santa Claus” into a hit in 1947, found a way to merge Santa and spirituality:
“Peace on Earth will come to all
“If we just follow the light.
“So let’s give thanks to the Lord above
“ ’Cause Santa Claus comes tonight.”
If Gene Autry could figure it out, the good folks at Save Me From the Fire should be able to as well. Let’s hope they bring a message of cheer, not fear, to the next parade.