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(CNSNews.com) - The town of Bay Harbor Islands, Fla., is being sued by a Christian resident who has been prevented from displaying Nativity scenes during the Christmas season by city officials who allow the main street to be decorated with Jewish religious symbols for Hanukkah. On behalf of Sandra Snowden, who has offered twice to pay for the Christmas decorations with her own money, a federal lawsuit was filed on Thursday against the town and its officials by the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich. According to a statement from Richard...

Offended by local nativity sceneAs a lifelong Christian, I am deeply offended by the creche that keeps appearing on the Chester County Courthouse grounds. It is racially, culturally and religiously insensitive. Jesus and His family were Middle Eastern and most likely had very dark hair, eyes, and skin — yet this offensive creche, showing the Holy Family and others in the Christmas drama as if they were northern Europeans with light skin and hair, keeps showing up on public property. Mary has blond hair, no less! And all the others have chalky skin and either blond or very light...

Principal Kicks Nativity Scene Out Of School Parents Want To Speak With School Officials POSTED: 7:30 PM EST December 17, 2003 UPDATED: 8:39 PM EST December 17, 2003 A controversy over holiday decorations at a school in Montgomery County continues over the removal of a nativity scene where other holiday displays were allowed to remain. There's a Christmas tree in the lobby of Horsham's Dorothea Simmons Elementary School, along with a Menorah and items representing Kwanzaa. Around the corner, a holiday display is complete just in time for the school's first holiday concert in 12 years. But there's a problem,...

NSFW--Jon Stewart has a nude picture, of his WIFE, maybe? legs spread with a nativity scene placed over the genital area...I guess she never worked a day in her life...Oy!

It was literally one of the most fulfilling events of my life. However, I didn't fully realize it at first. In late 2007, I thought it was time to get my life back on track after becoming totally blind two and a half years ago. Sure, there was my writing. And support of pro-family causes filled up many of my days. Yet there was something missing. However, I was soon to learn what it was. A few years ago, it was suggested I lead a project that would eventually result in a Nativity scene standing in the state Capitol Building...

BENTON, La. - In a settlement agreement negotiated by attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union will no longer pursue its legal attack upon the Bossier Parish School District. ADF attorneys represent the district. One of the district's schools displayed a nativity scene during the Christmas season of 2003 and has allowed other forms of religious expression on campus. This prompted the ACLU to file suit against the district and school officials. "The ACLU's case was going nowhere fast," said Mike Johnson, an ADF attorney based in Shreveport. "Stockwell Place Elementary School's display of a creche...

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- A Wiccan pentacle has joined a controversial nativity scene at Green Bay's City Hall. The manger scene was put up by City Council President Chad Fradette, who wanted to defy an anti-religious group that was protesting another nativity scene in a nearby town. However, the Wiccans said that was an abuse of power and requested that the Wiccan symbol go up next to the nativity. "I want to see all those other faiths that we don't get an opportunity to see in Green Bay, Wis., because we are sometimes relegated to that," said Wiccan Kelly Winters....

An unusual Nativity scene is drawing some curious looks from passers by on the UT campus. The scene features a gay couple, Gary and Joseph, instead of Mary and Joseph, a terrorist as an angel and Lenin, Stalin and Marx as the three wise men. The scene is built by the Young Conservatives of Texas, who say what they're calling an "ACLU nativity scene" includes positions taken by the American Civil Liberties Union. "The idea is to bring attention to the ACLU and also to bring attention to the issue of taking down nativity scenes during the christmas season or...

HOLIDAY BLUESCity censors nativity scene but not menorahResidents sue officials who allow Jewish observance on public property Posted: December 16, 20031:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Two residents of Palm Beach, Fla., filed suit against the city yesterday because officials there allow the display of Jewish menorahs on public property but do not allow Christian nativity scenes. The Michigan-based Thomas More Law Center, a public-interest law firm, brought the suit on behalf of Maureen Donnell and Fern deNarvaez. According to the law center, the suit demands the city immediately allow a nativity scene to be placed on city property, just as two...

CUMBERLAND — Thanks to a small group of local men, the tradition of erecting a Nativity scene and decorating a large Christmas tree on the lawn of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in downtown Cumberland will continue. Two years ago, city officials decided to end city government’s involvement with the Nativity scene. According to Michael Mudge, one of the men who is keeping the tradition alive, city leaders had received a complaint from two people who objected to local government being involved in the Christian Nativity tradition.After Christmas 2009, the city donated the Nativity items to The Cumberland Nativity & Tree Display...

SPRINGFIELD, IL -- On Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008, a privately-supported Nativity Scene will go on display in the state Capitol Building in Springfield, Illinois. Solely funded and constructed as a result of donations from private citizens, the display depicting the birth of Jesus Christ will stand in the East Hall of the Capitol Building from December 2nd through the 28th. The Nativity Scene and events surrounding the exhibit are being organized by the Springfield Nativity Scene Committee (SNSC). The scene--designed and constructed by Chicago-based builder Karl Fritz and his son master craftsman Timothy Fritz--will feature the baby Jesus, Joseph and...

Springfield Nativity Scene To Stand In Illinois State Capitol Rotunda Building For Second Year: ACLU Says It Supports Constitutional Rights To Express Religious Liberty In the Public Square by Daniel T. Zanoza, Executive Director of RFFM.org and Chairman of the Springfield Nativity Scene Committee For the second year a row, a Nativity Scene will stand in the state Capitol Rotunda Building in Springfield, Illinois. Last Christmas season, the Springfield Nativity Scene Committee (SNSC) made history with the financial and legal assistance of the Chicago-based Thomas More Society (TMS) and the support of private donations. An article written by Kurt Erickson...

In Chicago's Daley Plaza, wedged between – and in front of – the traditional nativity display and a giant menorah, there sits something new this year: an 8-foot-tall letter "A" lit up in red. The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) placed the big "A" in downtown Chicago. They say the "A" stands for Atheist, but it also represents Attack, given its timing and placement. While the nativity scene is linked to Christmas, and the menorah is part of Hanukah, the only apparent purpose for this lighted letter "A" is to demean the other displays. In Florida's State Capitol, the...

After Kim Gaines found a small nativity scene in a box of old Christmas decorations, she decided it would look nice on her desk in the main office at Urbana High School. Almost a week after she placed the figures on her desk, the school's secretary of eight years said she was called into Principal Kathy Campagnoli's office, where Campagnoli said staff members had told her the display promotes Christianity and that Gaines should take it down. Gaines obliged and removed the nativity scene. "I didn't want a big fight on my hands, but I was very upset over it,"...

The lunch conversation inevitably turned to whether the White House would display its crèche, customarily placed in a prominent spot in the East Room. Ms. Rogers, this participant said, replied that the Obamas did not intend to put the manger scene on display — a remark that drew an audible gasp from the tight-knit social secretary sisterhood. (A White House official confirmed that there had been internal discussions about making Christmas more inclusive and whether to display the crèche.) Yet in the end, tradition won out; the executive mansion is now decorated for the Christmas holiday, and the crèche is...

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - The sale of Nativity scenes with a wall running through the middle to symbolize Israel's security barrier borders on anti-Semitism, Jewish groups are saying. The Amos Trust, a British Christian charity that works with needy communities around the world, is selling the traditional Nativity sets with a political twist, noting that the wise men won't reach the stable because of the wall. The Amos Trust says its Nativity sets are made by Palestinian carpenters from olive wood from Bethlehem. Israel started building its security barrier -- a series of walls and fences -- in response to an...

NOVI (AP) - A Christmastime turf battle is being waged in suburban Detroit. A Novi family has been ordered to remove a seven-piece nativity scene from the front yard of their home, or face possible fines of $25 to $100 per week. The order given to Joe and Betty Samona didn't come from the government. It came from their subdivision association, which said they should have sought permission from the board of directors to place the figures outside their home. Michigan courts have said homeowners who join neighborhood or condominium associations must follow the rules set by the group. Dean...

A conservative group has set up a nativity scene at the Capitol building in Madison, and an atheists' group is seeking its own permit for an opposing display. A WISC-TV report says Wisconsin Family Action has been granted a permit to display its scene until the end of the month. The six statuettes that sit on a table depict the birth of Jesus Christ. Group spokeswoman Julaine Appling says the display is tasteful. She says there's room for a number of different voices. But the Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation says a nativity scene isn't appropriate for a state building....

Driving through the tiny rural town of Athens, Texas, and you’d be hard pressed to find something that might catch national attention -- or so it was until about a week ago. An hour and a half outside of Dallas, the Athens town square is dominated by the county courthouse, and this time of year, Christmas decorations are on each corner. But it is the nativity scene across the street from the Taco Bell that has caused controversy. It started with a simple letter. As Jefferson County commissioner Joe Hall tells it, he received the shock of his life when...

The city of Santa Monica has allowed an elaborate nativity scene in its Palisades Park each Christmas for nearly 60 years, but officials are ending the tradition this year after an atheist set up his own non-religious display and caused an uproar. Now, the churches behind the nativity are suing in federal court and claim the city violated their freedom of speech by stopping the holiday tradition. A court hearing Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles could decide the fate of the Christian tableau for the upcoming season.