December 21, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 27 property. The Establishment Clause was meant to forbid members of any church, or of none, to be taxed to support a church to which they didn’t belong. Many of the original colonies had been founded by religious groups – Congregational in Massachusetts, Anglican in Virginia, Catholic in Maryland – and the writers of the Constitution, a mixture of Christians and some Deists, but no public atheists – wanted to make sure people were not forced to support churches they did not attend. That’s all it meant. If George Washington’s army – many of them Irish Catholics – had been told they couldn’t recite Christian prayers or have clergyman attend to them, they probably would have thrown down their muskets and gone on strike. Children read The Bible in school at the beginning of the day until, I think, my senior year, and I saw nothing to suggest that it interfered with our educations. My take was that a clause in an amendment that had been intended to protect freedom of worship was being used to interfere with freedom of expression. I told them that, for what it was worth, they didn’t have to worry about objections from our newspaper and that I would explain the issue to the readers. I can’t say whether I swayed the Wyckoff Township Committee’s decision in any way, but future Wyckoff Township Attorney and future Judge Ed Torak took the appeal prepared with the help of present Wyckoff Township Attorney Robert Landel into the federal court system. Wyckoff won. The ruling from Federal Judge Dickinson Debevoise – who stood up for America as a combat soldier in World War II and an officer in the Korean War --was that municipalities had the right to display symbols of specific religions provided that they did not discriminate against the symbols of other religions and allowed secular displays as well. Maybe he had seen in Europe and Korea what horrors the persecution of religious groups can lead to, and he clearly understood what the U.S. Constitution said and meant. Wyckoff now displays a Nativity scene, a menorah, carolers, skaters, and a snowman. A number of other towns that had been backed down by the ACLU snapped back once Wyckoff took the case to court. The message was quite clear: The Township of Wyckoff, now backed by the federal court system, would no longer submit to bullying. Christmas and Chanukah, in fact, work very well together. Chanukah celebrates the victory of the Jews, then the only monogamous religion west of Persia, over a Greco-Syrian tyrant who attempted to make a god out of himself and tried to force the Jews to forsake the dignity and common sense of their own faith for a pagan blasphemy. After torture and rebellion ending in a Jewish victory, the Jews reclaimed their right to a belief that acknowledged the supremacy of God and the fact that all men and women are governed by laws that recognize no exceptions to moral responsibility. I think anybody who objects to celebrating a holiday like that has issues. I feel the same about Passover, another holiday that marks a victory of freedom and religious dignity over oppression and paganism. Once, when my son and I were driving through Ramsey and Mahwah, WQXR was offering a Passover program. He enjoyed playing the verbal games. While he was in the middle, we drove gently through an enormous herd of deer peacefully crossing the road. It was an oddly transcendent moment. One of the top tickets this season is the Dead Sea Scrolls display at Times Square. The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in 1947, were at first feared because they might expose something scary about the origins of Judaism or of Christianity. In fact, they turned out to be a source of comfort and joy. Once the Dead Sea Scrolls were restored, they revealed that every book of the Old Testament (the Jewish Bible) except for the Book of Esther was intact at the time of the first Roman conquest, and displayed the oldest manuscript copy of the Jewish Bible by about 800 years. The scrolls confirmed that the Messianic prophecies cited by Christians had existed in ancient times. Since the Dead Sea Scrolls were copied by ultra-devout Jews, there would have been no motivation to strengthen the Christian faith then growing inside Judaism. The discovery should be a delight for everyone. It should go without saying that any idea that a responsible celebration of Christmas should be restricted due to a misinterpretation of the Establishment Clause is doomed from the start. Christianity outlived Stalin and Mao, the two worst killers in human history. Many Russians today wear visible crosses. (I used to “smuggle” Bibles into Russia by mail, so this delights me.) In addition, around a third of all Chinese are now Christian. Most people agree this is better than Stalin and Mao. Chanukah helped save Judaism, which began the fulcrum for Christianity, and Christianity may yet save the world from the malevolence of those who hate all religions or all members of any religion and use that hate to make political points. Put up the menorah, the crèche, and the crescent, and give us all peace in the New Year from people who hate and hurt. I think that is a message all religions preach when you get beyond a handful of exploiters in each group. I think that is the message we all need. I was warmed to the cockles of my heart when a couple of nice women addressed the Allendale Council to urge that the borough place a menorah on the front lawn. Mayor Vince Barra told the women that policy has been not to display any religious symbols on municipal property, but he thought the policy could use a new look and perhaps, as he said, a new tradition. Stepping briefly out of my reporter’s role, I said Chanukah is an excellent holiday because it celebrates the victory of liberty over tyranny, and I agreed in principle that both Christmas and Chanukah could morally and legally be celebrated on public property -- and should be. Fortunately, I’m not the only person who feels that way. My son and his wife just had a son of their own. I showed everybody at the meeting the photo, including the mayor, the clerk, the council, and the two Chanukah advocates. But I was carried back in memory to the days when I actually did something right for a change and helped defend religious liberty for Christians and Jews against the forces of another tyranny. My son used to ride with me to Wyckoff Town Hall to take part in Team Up to Tidy Up and to watch the unfolding of public business. He did this from the time he was quite young. While he was being home-schooled, one of his favorite films was “Waterloo” with Christopher Plummer and Rod Steiger. He could do an over-the-top imitation of Steiger playing Napoleon Bonaparte from the time he learned to talk, and he did one often. Once, when his sister rebuked him for some minor breach of peace, he popped his eyes, turned red in the face, and echoing teiger, Johnny screamed: Don’t you dare criticize your emperor! Don’t you dare!” His nickname with his older sister Emily was “The Emperor” for months afterward. “They were both fat!” said Emily – and he cultivated the resemblance. One day we pulled into the Wyckoff Town Hall lot and a special flag he hadn’t seen was flying just below the Star-Spangled Banner. “Do you know that that means, Johnny?” I asked. Johnny glowered. “It means the Pwussians have taken the municipal building!” he said with glum defiance. “If there’s one thing I regret, it’s that I didn’t burn Berlin! But as far as you’re concerned – and the army! – they’re on the moon.” (The next Waterloo reenactment in Belgium is in 2015. My wife tells me Johnny and I are going. I forgot to ask if her offer covers a ticket for the return trip.) No Prussians were present the night Johnny and I helped make history – I’m said to be one-quarter -- but the Wyckoff Township Committee had gathered to confer about a threat from the American Civil Liberties Union. If Wyckoff didn’t take the Nativity scene off the front lawn of town hall, they would be in heap trouble. In a cramped room something like the room where Christopher Plummer drew a circle around Waterloo on his campaign map, I advanced the view that the ACLU was off base. Even the Prussians didn’t restrict religious expression, and some of their medals were stamped with a Star of David along with a cross and an eagle. The so-called Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution was never meant to ban religious symbols from public Christmas & Chanukah: Celebrate both holidays Letters to the Editor Dear Editor: With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season in full swing, our October snow storm is long forgotten for many, even though it was just over a handful of weeks ago -- but not for me. On that raw and dangerous night, when every entrance in town to Route 17 was closed due to downed trees and wires, streets were snow covered and residents had been advised by the mayor to remain indoors, two of Ho-Ho-Kus’ finest officers and six local residents from our volunteer ambulance corps answered a call with total disregard to their personal safety and became my heroes. With calm expertise and efficiency, this team, despite the obstacles of the evening, managed my care and transport to Hackensack University Medical Center since Valley Hospital was on backup generators and not accepting patients. Appreciates ‘snow angels’ Not everyone suffered a heart attack during the “Storm of the Century,” but I did, and I am very proud to call HoHo-Kus my home and eternally grateful to Officers Mike La Croix and Sean Leonard, as well as Gary, Gordon, Karen, Margaret, Chrissy, and Staci. The assistance didn’t stop there….not in Ho-Ho-Kus! So many friends and neighbors came to my family’s aide. Whether it was shoveling our driveway, delivering a meal to our door, or driving our children to school, I was humbled by people’s generosity and am honored to call them friends. To all who read this, but especially my “snow angels,” I wish you a blessed holiday season surrounded by loved ones and a healthy New Year! With an eternally grateful heart, Thomas Finan Ho-Ho-Kus of the local veterans’ group’s building for several years due to the restrictions placed on the VFW. The terms of the lease, which was renewed in 2002, allow VFW members limited access to their own building, a situation that has been problematic since the VFW was reorganized and revitalized under Kober. The VFW had planned to raze the Cliff Street building and construct a new home for Post 192, but the railroad club did not support those plans. The VFW then approached the borough to buy the neighboring property for a construction project. When that matter was close to a vote, the state VFW organization said Post 192’s lease with the railroad club was invalid, and the building plans were put on hold. Post 192 later attempted to evict the club from the Cliff Street building. The case went to court and was dismissed without prejudice. In that case, the VFW alleged that the club violated its lease agreement, and asked the club to remedy the violations. Lawsuit (continued from page 3) actually own the property. (N.J.S.A. 54:4-2.3). As the leasehold owner, they are responsible for their portion of the real estate taxes,” Merolla previously stated. She indicated that a tax bill would be sent to the club, cautioning that the law provides that, in the absence of payment, “a lien on the leasehold estate is to be made and…(the club) shall be personally liable.” When the lease was first proposed in the 1990s, the agreement was promoted as a solution for the railroad club, which had recently lost its layout space in Ramsey, and for the VFW, whose members had approached the council for assistance with maintaining the building. However, the railroad club and Post 192 have been at odds over the use