Holiday Religious Displays on Common Area

Why do you think it matters if it's a religious display or not?

An HOA is a private corporation, not a government or even pseudo- or quasi-government agency.

If the controlling documents do not allow residents to use the common areas for purposes of placing any displays, religious or otherwise, then none of the decorations can be allowed.

If the controlling documents do allow for residents to place displays on the common areas, then the board can likely set rules and regulations as to what those can and can't be.

However, again, as the association is a private corporation, if it wants to allow religious displays it is perfectly within its rights and abilities to do so. (again, presuming that the controlling documents allows for the board to establish such rules for the common areas.)

I think the issue is that RESIDENTS are placing displays on COMMON AREA without permission?

Am I correct in that conclusion?

If so, then any display, regardless of secular or religious, would be in appropriate, if the board did not place it there.

Where is the common area that is being so horribly victimized?

At the front entrance?

Well,
I suppose you could set aside a specific area for posting all signs and only allow them to be posted for one week or something.

We have decorated our common areas for twenty years with lights each December and take them down the first of the year. No complaints for twenty years. No signs of any kind can be posted, religious or otherwise allowed........ever. It would be hard to establish that lights endorse a religious belief. The work is done by volunteers and scant money is spent. If the association wanted to hang paper plates from the trees, I expect they have the right to do this at our place as long as they didn't put writing on them. What webs ye mortals weave, when first you practiced to deceive.

Michael,
Another "sticky wicket". I'm not sure what a wicket is but I think it has something to do with, "Cricket".

Anyway, there is lots of things that go on that can bear scrutiny if someone objects. Hard to keep your personal feelings out of the issue, and frankly I don't try too hard. If it feels wrong to me I just might say it should feel wrong to others, especially about religion. I have no problem with different religions but resent that some want to force me not to believe in what I believe in because they feel I am somehow harming them, if I show my feelings.
I do believe HOAS's can and do, for the most part, act fairly about what is allowed to be displayed on common property.

Naw,
That's a "stick it", no that's not right.
Why did you bring up the subject anyway?

How about this (I always find the origins of phrases interesting):

Copied from: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/334550.html

A sticky wicket

Meaning: A difficult situation.

Origin

A wicket is, of course, the playing surface used in cricket. This phrase is a direct allusion to the difficulty of playing on a wet and sticky pitch. The earliest citations of the expression refer specifically to cricket. For example, Bell's Life in London, July 1882:

"The ground... was suffering from the effects of recent rain, and once more the Australians found themselves on a sticky wicket."

For the figurative use of the phrase we need look no further than the cricket-playing countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth. The first such citation that I've found is from the Jamaican newspaper The Gleaner, April 1930:

"Your Excellency, Sir William Morrison, and gentlemen. I am afraid tonight, owing to the rain we have had in this island of Springs, I am batting on rather a sticky wicket. We have just heard Sir William Morrison make, in my opinion, a magnificent speech. I do not hope or think of living up to that."

Mary,
See, I don't admit to anything, just in case I am wrong. However I admit I used it first, except Michele made me do it.

Since it turns out my descriptive term was on the money I feel pretty good and you have my permission to call your husband that if you desire.

I see this much like hanging election campaign signs in the common areas. It seems someone is trying to dare the board to ask them to remove or to have a maintenance person take down the decoration. It's instant victimization! I'd think common areas should stay clean.

Our covenants do not allow any signage on any common area, other than security and no trespassing signs.

So it's a moot point. If someone places any sort of signage, or display, religious, political or simply humorous (Lawdy Lawdy, Ms. Giggles is Fawty!), on our association's common areas, we would remove them.

We have a covenant that allows certain signage on homeowner lots (political signs within a time frame, security signs, lot-for-sale signs), and there is no restriction on holiday displays.