Controversy Over Menorah Display

I am surprised by the fuss over the Christmas tree/Hanukkah menorah in Beverly Hills. While this matter, and the lawsuit, involve privately funded religious symbols, the city of Los Angeles has for years spent thousands of dollars of public money on religious activities connected with the Day of The Dead (“Dia De Los Muertes” celebration.

The main centerpiece of the exhibition/rites, held at the Los Angeles Photo Center, are the creation and exhibition of “sacred” prayer altars. The altar constructions include numerous highly religious objects, both from Christian and pagan practices, including crosses, crucifixes, depictions of the crucifixion in sculpture and painting, and a huge variety of herbs and hot peppers, which have special religious significance in pagan religious practice.

The exhibition at the Photo Center is blatantly and openly religious. It seems odd to me that the Beverly Hills lawsuit over a far less clear-cut matter gets front-page coverage in The Times, while the religious goings on at the Photo Center, an openly religious use of taxpayer money, gets no coverage at all.

JOSE SANTIAGO

Marina del Rey