Posted on 12/18/2014 6:01:42 PM PST by Coleus
Lansing, MI – This Christmas Season, the Michigan Nativity Scene Committee will display a nativity scene in the Michigan Capitol building in honor of the birth of Christ. On Friday, December 19 at 12:00pm, the Michigan Nativity Scene Committee will host a celebration to unveil the Christmas display depicting the newborn Christ Child, lying in the manger. The nativity scene will be displayed on the lawn outside the Michigan State Capitol building.
WHAT: Michigan Nativity Scene Committee to display nativity scene at Michigan State Capitol
WHEN: Friday, December 19 at 12:00pm EST
WHERE: Michigan State Capitol – East Lawn Southside, Capitol Avenue at Michigan Ave. Lansing, MI 48933
DETAILS: The December 19th event will be open to the public. Speakers include: Senator Rick Jones, speaking as a private citizen not in his official capacity, and Pastor Doug Bradshaw of Williamston Free Methodist Church.
“The nativity scene at the Michigan State Capitol will demonstrate the true meaning of Christmas in a joyful and hopeful manner,” said Bob Fleming, special counsel for the Thomas More Society and chairman of the Michigan Nativity Scene Committee. “The Satanic display – by stark contrast – will merely serve to highlight the positive message of Christmas.”
“The nativity scene at the State Capitol represents constitutionally-protected free speech and expression of religious faith by private citizens in a designated public forum,” added Tom Brejcha, Thomas More Society President and Chief Counsel. “The Government is neither censor nor endorser of such religious speech. At the Capitol, where political rallies are routinely held during Government sessions, the government’s role is merely to serve as a viewpoint neutral gatekeeper protecting citizens’ right of free speech.”
The nativity scene is privately funded and sponsored, bereft of any government aid or endorsement, and therefore, the display is clothed and armored with the full protection of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Members of the Michigan Nativity Scene Committee will be in charge of taking down the display each evening and setting it up again in the mornings, from December 19-25.
Thomas More Society provides legal counsel for the Michigan Nativity Scene Committee and the American Nativity Scene Committee (ANSC), placing nativity scenes in public places in twenty-one different States. Thomas More Society and ANSC are co-sponsoring private nativity displays in the State Capitol buildings of Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nebraska, Rhode Island, and Texas, and in front of the Governor’s Mansion in Oklahoma.
Special thanks to those assisting with the nativity scene at the Michigan State Capitol, including Shannon Spangler and Bronner’s Christmas Store.
Yeah, let's see how long the "religion of Satan" abides by the rules.
It is really funny when you read the comments on one of the articles about it. The atheists and religion haters sound just like satanists. Coincidence? I think not.
HOWEVER, I do know one atheist for whom it is a matter of not receiving the gift of faith, and not an hatred of God.
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