As Christmas day draws near, disputes over governmentally sponsored nativity displays continue to erupt. One in the small town of Exmore,Virginia was the focus of a Washington Post article on Friday that discusses more generally the phenomenon of complaints about holiday displays. According to the Post: “Three national legal groups are involved in the dispute there. They disagree over whether a Christmas tree-shaped ornament the town placed on a nearby telephone pole proves -- or disproves -- that the Nativity scene is just part of a broader, generally secular display.” A bit more background on the Exmore display is in Saturday’s Salisbury (MD) Daily Times.
Friday’s Manitowoc, Wisconsin News discusses the objections to the nativity scene on the local court house lawn raised by the Freedom from Religion Foundation. County Board Chairman Jim Brey’s reaction was: “It's unfortunate that just a few people can choose to be offended out of the blue and disrupt and insult the good people in our community who care very much about the holiday and the meaning for the holiday.” In response to arguments that the display is a town tradition, Rich Bouril, the resident who originally complained about the display, said: “Slavery was a tradition once.”
Finally, in Britain, 18-year old Christopher Geisler will spend both Christmas and New Years in jail after he stole the figures of Jesus and Mary from a nativity scene in front of Worcester’s Guildhall. Geisler, who was already on bail for two assault charges, apparently had been drinking and said he stole the statues “for a laugh”. This is the third year in a row that the nativity scene has been vandalized. According to today's Worcester News, Geisler’s father was upset that he would not be home for Christmas.
