Reply #34: The Owner of the Santa was NOT an atheist, according to SNOPES.... ....

[Duppers]

"The owner of the display is Middleburg resident, Jeff Heflin Jr.

On Heflin’s application he wrote the description of his display as “art work of Santa on a cross to depict society’s materialistic obsessions and addictions and how it is killing the peace, love, joy and kindness that is supposed to be prevalent during the holiday season.”
Heflin is not part of any organization and sponsored the display himself.

Of course, I'm not really puzzled, since it's typical to label any work that uses religious symbolism in a negative way as "atheist," regardless of the religiosity or intent of its creator. No point in letting pesky facts get in the way.

Quote:
"The skeleton was nailed to a cross on Monday by a mother and son associated with an atheist group, one of the nine approved displays for the Christmas season."

Indeed, but the article pretty clearly states that the display was applied for and owned by someone else. It's contradictory, but it sounds to me like the mother and son were simply the ones who installed it, not the ones who conceived it.

http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?p=1565610


I think it was a copy-cat idea, see: http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/cross.asp