In the past few days, the area I grew up in has been in the news. The county courthouse specifically. There is a brewing controversy over the nativity scene that is on the courthouse lawn. The scene has been there every Christmas season since I can remember growing up.
You can read the article about it here.
The article states that a company in Wisconsin, "Freedom From Religion", is suing the county to take the nativity scene down. The company claims that a concerned citizen in Henderson County contacted them. The locals want to know why a company in Wisconsin should have any interest in it.
I sympathize the citizen who contacted the company, though s/he may be offended far too easily. The citizens in the community are using social media to say that if that person was truly offended, not simply trying to make a stir, then they should put their name behind it. I disagree. In a small conservative community like this one, that's virtually asking for a rock to be thrown through your window or worse.
As a Christian, I value the Christmas season as a chance to reflect on Christ. As a Mormon, I understand what it is like to have your faith disregarded, mocked, and devalued. I sympathize with anyone of other faiths who go through trials much worse than I will ever face. I do not agree with people who claim that this country was founded as a Christian nation. The way I understand history, the pilgrims came here from a country that claimed to be "Christian" because they were not allowed to worship the way they wanted to. How are we any better if we simply substitute our Christianity for the one the Pilgrims fled?
I do not however think that the Nativity scene should be taken down. Not for any religious reason, but rather because it is a tradition in the town. A better option may be to add to the display. There are people of many different faiths in the county. Most, if not all, of those faiths are celebrating a valued holiday this time of year. There is no reason the county couldn't add representations of each of those holidays to their courthouse display.
There does seems to be a vocal, somewhat hostile, sentiment in the town that if the nativity scene were taken down, the children in the community would fail to learn the true meaning of Christmas. Perhaps it's more important what children learn in their home than what little knowledge they may glean by looking at the holiday display on the courthouse.
