Nativity Scenes Are Taking Center Stage across the Buckeye Bible Belt after Resistance from Secular Group [Video, Photos]
News Staff : Dec 18, 2019
Frontlines Ohio
"Christmas has been historically one of the most celebrated holidays of the American people. I am grateful for nativity displays. From the beginning, our founders insisted on the importance of the faith of the American people to the future of our nation." -Honorable Judge James Deweese
(North Central Ohio) – [Frontlines Ohio] When legal groups try to eliminate religious expression during the Christmas season, it is no "silent night" inside the Buckeye Bible Belt. Often times when religious displays are threatened by atheists, communities come together in solidarity and religious faith springs to action. (Image: via Frontlines Ohio)
Last year the anti-religious group Freedom for Religion Foundation threatened to file a lawsuit against the City of Dover, Ohio for its nativity scene on city property. After moving the nativity scene to an obscure sight in 2018, the City of Dover has now decided to return the nativity scene back to the public square.
One Judge who is no stranger to religious displays on public property, the Honorable James DeWeese, says nativity scenes help place the emphasis of Christmas on the worship of Christ rather than on secular materialism.
Honorable Judge James Deweese:
"Christmas has been historically one of the most celebrated holidays of the American people. I am grateful for nativity displays. From the beginning, our founders insisted on the importance of the faith of the American people to the future of our nation. Our first president, George Washington, wrote in his farewell address, "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports."
Judge DeWeese was not aware of all the nativity scenes that serve as bastions for religious expression across North Central Ohio. These can be seen in: Shelby, Shiloh, Bellville, Mount Gilead, and Malabar Farm State Park to name a few. In fact, several new displays have been erected this year.
To view more local nativity scenes, click here to go to Frontlines Ohio Facebook.
The Thomas More Society is co-sponsoring nativity displays on State Capitol grounds around the country including this year at the Ohio Statehouse. The Chicago-based law firm defends and equips Americans to exercise religious faith by private citizens in the public square. (Image: Nativity scene on Ohio Statehouse grounds sponsored by the Thomas More Society /courtesy of Claire Dyson /via Frontlines Ohio)
A nativity scene will also be located at the public square in the City of Mansfield this year; the first recorded nativity at Central Park since 1962 according to Sherman Room Librarian Jayson Schlechty of the Mansfield-Richland County Public Library.
According to Mr. Schlechty, "Live nativities and religious dramas were put on by the Mansfield Council of Churches and the Mansfield Retail Merchants Association in 1962 ‘as a meaningful interlude from the commercial aspects of the Christmas season for downtown shoppers.'"
Not only have nativity scenes multiplied on public squares, they have multiplied inside churches.
A creative display of more than six-hundred nativity sets is open to the public at Southside Christian Church the first three Sundays in December, between 2:00-4:00 PM. Located at 2055 Middle-Bellville in Mansfield, the display includes nativities from forty-eight different nations.
In 2015, the Pines Christian Church, at 6775 State Route 42 outside Mount Gilead, Ohio broke the Guinness World Record for the largest display of nativity scenes with 2,300 unique displays. The Pines Christian Church was built on the site of the former Pines Restaurant owned by Fred Hope, brother of the famous comedian Bob Hope, also a nativity scene enthusiast.
"Christmas' story of blessing is truly reflected in the nativity displays set up in so many communities throughout our land," Judge DeWeese concluded. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here
Click here to view a video of a community from the "North Star State" of Wadena, Minnesota who fought back after an atheist group threatened to sue the city for its nativity scene. When one nativity scene went down, hundreds went up.