Organizers of a Tennessee Christmas parade have angered many on the left for including a declaration of faith on the parade's application.
For decades, people of all ages have flocked to Cookeville, Tennessee, a city of 35,000 people about an hour and a half east of Nashville, for its annual Christmas parade. In recent years, the nonprofit Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce hosted the event.
However, in 2024, a private organization made up of local church members took over the event. In keeping with the season of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ and this year's theme of “Celebrating the Lights of Christmas,” organizers will Application for parade A statement of faith that details the basic tenets of Christianity.
The Declaration of Faith affirms belief in Jesus as the Second Person of the Trinity, the circumstances surrounding his birth, and the primacy of the Bible.
The statement also reiterates Christian teachings on social issues such as gender, marriage, and human dignity.
- “Marriage is exclusively the union of one genetic male and one genetic female.”
- “God's plan for human sexuality should be expressed only within the context of marriage.”
- “God instituted monogamy between men and women as the foundation of the family and the basic structure of human society.”
- “Human life is sacred from conception to its natural end.”
“Maybe the church groups involved didn't want to get gay guys.”
Contrary to press reports, those submitting applications to participate in the parade do not have to personally believe everything stated in the Statement of Faith. Instead, the application only asks for the initials below the statement to confirm that you have read and understood it.
The application also asks that all parade participants “act consistent” with their faith statements to maintain a family-friendly event.
So far, Cookeville officials appear to have washed their hands of the parade and its organizers' declaration of faith.
“The city had nothing to do with the handover to this organization and still has nothing to do with the production or operation of the Christmas parade. “We have only requested temporary road closures, as any type of parade-type event would require,” city officials said in a posted statement. facebook.
“It is extremely unfortunate that something like the Christmas Parade has become such a controversial event in this day and age, but Cookeville City Government has no involvement in this event. What we are requesting is the following.'' is not enforced or approved by the City of Cookeville and does not belong to the City of Cookeville. ”
Substack called friendly atheist He went on to say that expressing faith is a form of “prejudice” and argued that the parade is therefore “no longer a celebration of the holiday.”
“This event has become even more explicitly Christian,” the atheist writer raged. “Jews are not welcome. Atheists, Muslims, LGBTQ people are not wanted.”
words holidayOf course, it comes from the concept of “.”holy day“” in the Western calendar.
Cookeville resident Antonio Pedro is similarly appalled at Christians adopting Christian statements of faith for Christian events. He and others, including the owner of Cookeville's “Little Witch Shop,” attempted to organize more “witch shops.”comprehensiveThe “counter-event” aims to make Christmas parades what they used to be and bring the community together as a community and not just a religion.
One of the reasons they and other leftists are furious about Christian control of this year's Christmas parade is because Upper Cumberland Pride (a local group of sexual deviants by Biblical standards) participated last year. being denied the privilege to do so.
“When I asked why, they said they considered it a 'kids and family event.'” [and] We may not be child and family friendly,” the UCP said. WKRN.
Although the UCP characterized this refusal as a capricious act of exclusion, the truth is that even secular organizations like the Chamber of Commerce would be right to be wary of the UCP's participation in a Christmas parade aimed at children and families. Ta.
“Our theme was “Let's stop gay apparel from now on.'' It was planned to be released in outline. [sic] Fashion and voguing,” said Upper Cumberland Pride President Jessica Patterson, according to the Friendly Atheist.
“Oh no! Voguing! If you ignore guns and pools and peanuts, that's the leading cause of death in children!” the friendly atheist scoffed. “Did they think voguing would hurt anyone? … Maybe the church groups involved didn't want to catch their gay buddies.”
Blaze News reached out to the current parade organizers but did not receive a response.
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