Boca council finds devil is in the details
Pentagram may do in free-expression zone
They say the devil has all the good music — but he might have one fewer venue for his dark arts this holiday season.
Boca Raton plans to discontinue a policy that allowed religious displays at Sanborn Square Park each December, including the 10-foot, 300-pound pentagram — a satanic symbol — that made waves in the community last year.
The move comes after a teacher in December temporarily installed the pentagram
in the park’s free-expression zone. The display was inscribed with the words, “In Satan we trust.”
Religious leaders called the display offensive, and it became a frequent target for vandals, who spraypainted and toppled the pentagram.
“You shouldn’t have to celebrate my religious beliefs, that’s what it comes downto,” said Councilman Jeremy Rodgers of the city’s plan. “With freedom of religion comes freedom from religion if you so choose.”
While the city doesn’t support or endorse any religious group or organization, it opted to allow the pentagram last year, saying it had to support the constitutional right of free speech.
In 1990, Boca Raton established a policy allowing people to place “unattended, expressive installations, displays, exhibits and similar objects” in Sanborn Square, 72 N. Federal Highway, during the winter holiday season.
So each December, the park featured several displays, including a menorah and a life-sized Nativity scene.
Preston Smith, an eighth-grade English teacher, took exception to the practice. He put up the pentagram as a proponent of the separation of church and state. He said his goal was to highlight religious preference even in freespeech areas.
He said banning religious displays would be a good thing.
“This was a social experiment to expose the religious hypocrisy,” Smith said. “If it takes the symbol of Satan to effect the change, so be it.”
Smith told the Sun Sentinel in January tha the had planned on installing another display this year.
On Tuesday night, Boca Raton introduced a proposal to quit allowing the holiday displays; the City Council will vote on the measure at a later date.
Even though Boca would no longer allow the displays, the city still would allow other forms of “expressive” activity, such as people carrying signs and banners during protests, according to the ordinance.