8A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2017
Atheist seeks removal of Christmas banner
Associated Press
Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard
A banner in Eugene encourages church attendance for
Christmas. An atheist is demanding that city officials re-
move the banner that he believes is a violation of church
and state.
EUGENE — A man has
threatened to sue city officials
in Eugene because of a Christ-
mas banner that he believes is
a violation of the separation of
church and state.
The banner that stretches
above a downtown street
advises people to attend
church this Christmas and cel-
ebrate Jesus Christ.
Rene Salm, a published
atheist who lives in Eugene,
told The Register-Guard that
he has contacted the Ameri-
can Civil Liberties Union and
is trying to find a lawyer.
“I feel like I’m being
assaulted, telling me to go to
church and celebrate Jesus,”
said Salm, who has published
books titled “NazarethGate”
and “The Myth of Nazareth.”
Other residents have raised
similar complaints, the news-
paper reports.
The city allows community
groups and nonprofit orga-
nizations to install banners
for up to three weeks to pro-
mote events. The city has des-
ignated three spots for street
banners.
The group or organiza-
tion must submit a completed
application and pay a $37.45
fee. It is responsible for install-
ing and removing the banner.
Virgil Adams applied in
July to hang the Christmas
banner between Dec. 12 and
Jan. 1, according to a copy of
the application.
“He can go and get a per-
mit and do what he wants,”
Adams said of Salm. “It’s a
free country.”
It’s the second year in a
row that a Christmas banner
has led to complaints in the
city that’s home to the Univer-
sity of Oregon.
Councilor Betty Taylor
raised the issue in February,
noting at a council meeting
that the banner displayed in
December 2016 caused a stir.
Kathryn Brotherton, now
Eugene’s acting city attorney,
responded that the city can’t
regulate the content of any
banner if it makes the space
available to the public, so long
as the applicant complies with
the program’s rules.
“A banner advertising an
Easter service and a banner
advertising a picnic at Alton
Baker (Park) have the same
ability to buy that spot and
be posted there,” she said,
according to a video of the
meeting available online.
Taylor then asked if the
city would permit a banner for
an event in support of the Ku
Klux Klan.
Brotherton answered “yes.”
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