Nativity Scene at a Christmas Festival - Horrors! Hide the children!

Does a nativity scene at a Christmas Festival in Chicago mean that the state is sanctioning Christianity? Horrors! Run for the hills! No, wait, run for the ACLU or some other anti-Christian group! Christianity in the United States is embodied through the Catholic Church and a myriad of Protestant denominations. It would be impossible to have a "state" sanctioned Christian religion, yet Christians of any denomination are now being treated as a collective in the minds of the secularists. All Christian denominations are lumped together and any mention is considered the 'state" sanctioning a "state" religion. All of the breast-beating over the display of a nativity scene at a Christmas - so much so that the display is banned - Just about forces me to ask myself exactly how threatening Christianity and its symbols must be to the citizens of the United States. How they must be protected from the frightening scenes of love and unity among people. But then I am reminded: "O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for friends." [al-Ma'idah 5:51.11] That's rather clear, eh? Even more poignant in view of the above quotation is the iteration by Islamic leaders going as far back as Mohammed that Christians and Jews are "people of the book" and as such are brothers. So then, if Jesus is seen as a prophet by two of the three, how can the scene of His birth be offensive? The idea of "freedom of religion" and the "separation of church and state" have come to the point in our society now so that the only religion that is not allowed in the public square is Christianity. In the spirit of tolerance and freedom of religion, why can't the local fire department display the nativity scene during the Christmas season? Have we forgotten that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were not "Christians"? But there is plenty of room for deer and sleighs and Jolly Old Saint Nick, just a bit of state-sanctioned paganism. Eh, what? The concept of the "separation of church and state" revolves upon the idea that there shall be no religion established by the state as a formal "state" religion. As an example, Islam is the "state" religion in Saudi Arabia. So much so that there is no idea of "freedom of religion" in Saudi Arabia and no religions other than Islam exist there. No churches can be built there. Or in England, for the present at least, the Anglican Church I believe is the state-sanctioned religion. There is no "state" religion in the United States at the moment. That of course can change as we progress down our merry path of "dhimmitude" but we aren't there quite yet. The imams acting out in the airport, designed I would bet to push the envelope; the taxi drivers refusing to take certain patrons - all incremental steps to establishing "special" treatment? Hmmm... Think about the overt acts to call attention to themselves and then claim "victim" status. Good psy-ops there. Christians are being killed or enslaved in Sudan with the eventual result being the establishment of an Islamic state. Christians living in the Indonesian islands are experiencing the same thing - in their case, entire island Christian populations are being slaughtered by adherents of the religion of peace. That is the extreme method of establishing a "state"-sanctioned religion. Yet in the United States, during a holiday season, the Christmas Season to be exact, the very exhibit of the nativity scene has become a scourge with lawyers screaming, "Foul, foul, no sign of Christianity allowed! The display of a nativity scene is the sanctioning of a "state" religion." Shriek, shriek! Get the stakes, get the stakes! Pound them into the heart of Christians, besmirch them and their beliefs but, don't forget to take their money... Give me a break! Why is it that Christians must endure the shunning, the disparaging of their faith, yet one congressman wants to have HR 288 passed to confer special status upon Islam - state-sanctioned, special status - so that even speaking about the "religion" in open dialogue would be classified as "hate" speech? Would not that bill, HR 288, be akin to establishing a "state" sanctioned religion more equal than other religions in the United States? What is the fear held by some of Christianity? We have studies of Islam and deference shown at Ramadan in our public schools. The word "Chritsmas" is not even allowed to be spoken. Aside from the most threaten "species" in our society, the much maligned white male (God love 'em all), Christianity is running a close second on the road to being "banned", at least speech about it, displays about it in public. By its very existence, Christianity which cannot ever be a "state" sanctioned religion - which denomination would be the chosen one - is very much abused today. How do we get our sanity back?