title: ATHEISTS SUE GOVERNOR OF TEXAS Over Display on Capitol Grounds
text:  I m convinced the Freedom From Religion group of atheists didn t get enough attention when they were kids. They re perpetually offended by just about everything. Here s yet another case of them mocking a nativity scene with a childish display and then suing the Texas governor when he took it down.Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is being sued by an atheist group over his decision to remove its nativity-scene parody from the state Capitol in December.The Freedom From Religion Foundation announced a federal lawsuit against Abbott in the Western District of Texas, Austin division, on Thursday. The organization alleges the governor violated free speech, equal protection and due process rights when he ordered the removal of an  exhibit  commemorating the  birth  of the Bill of Rights.The image in question, approved by Texas  State Preservation Board, included the Statue of Liberty, the Founding Fathers and the Bill of Rights in a manger. It was placed in the state Capitol Dec. 18, 2015, and remained there for three days before Abbott acted. Mocking the Capitol nativity scene is offensive. I demand the removal of the satirical  nativity scene  from Capitol,  Abbott tweeted Dec. 22, 2015.The governor also penned a letter to the State Preservation Board: This juvenile parody violates the Preservation Board s regulations and should be removed immediately.   The biblical scene of the newly born Jesus Christ lying in a manger in Bethlehem lies at the very heart of the Christian faith. Subjecting an image held sacred by millions of Texans to the Foundation s tasteless sarcasm does nothing to promote morals and the general welfare,  Abbott said.  To the contrary, the Foundation s spiteful message is intentionally designed to belittle and offend, which undermines rather than promotes any public purpose a display promoting the Bill of Rights might otherwise have had. Read more: wnd 