Is the nativity scene a religious symbol?

Question

According to people like Bill O'Reily, who I agree with on most subjects except for those rooted in religion, claim that it is simply commemorates the birth of Jesus the Philosopher. Therefore it should be constitutional to have it displayed in the public square, after all Christmas is a federal holiday. I say, hog wash, the nativity scene is totally religious and I don't want my government promoting it in any way.

To assert that I should be pettioning for abolishing Christmas is so far out in left field, it's stupifying. I do celebrate Christmas but knowing that many other American's don't, tells me that in the name of being inclusive, my government should steer clear of it. To believe otherwise is just un-American and selfish.

Answer 1

Oh, it most definitly is a religious symbol and anyone who says otherwise is a liar and in denial. Or at the very least, trying to promote THEIR version of religion.

The Nativity is a uniquely CHRISTIAN thing. It is not Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Shinoist, Pagan, or anything BUT. Jesus wasn't just a philosopher, he is a religious icon and usually called Christ the Savior by most Christians. Mr. O'Reilly is simply trying to lie and sugarcoat things by calling Christ a philosopher.

It's religious and should absolutely NOT be displayed on government property. America is a FREE nation, not a Christian one. Anyone who says it IS, should do three things: read the Constitution, read the Bill of Rights, and then read their Bible without bias and literally as they claim to do and then ask why we haven't made it illegal to divorce, to not stone a woman for adultery, why it's not legal for men who rape virgins to buy said raped woman from her father for $50, then try and claim America as a Christian nation again.

As far as wanting to ban Christmas because we know that Nativity scenes have NO place on government property, that's a crock of the proverbial horse crap. Nobody's out to ban Christmas, nobody's against a holiday of LOVE and PEACE and GIVING(you hear me out there, religious folk?).

All we want is to have OUR rights respected as the Christians like to go crazy over demanding their religion is respected and protected. They aren't the only ones in this country, let alone the WORLD, so they're not the only ones entitled to rights. We want respect, just like you, so how about giving it instead of crying and whining every time a Nativity scene is removed from governmental property where it has no place to begin with?

How about focusing on what this season(and your religion for that matter) is really about and start giving to the poor, caring for the sick and wounded, and stop wars(starting with Iraq and Afghanistan) instead of trying to turn this world into a theocracy when you can't even decide WHICH version of Christianity it should be.

Answer 2

No, truthfully speaking from the truth of the bible, the wise men weren't even around when Jesus was born. The so called wise men who were actually astrologers went to King Herod first.Matthew 2:1-16. The Astrologers found a young child in a house, not a babe in a manger. The symbol of the three wise men (it actually doesn't say how many there were) at Jesus' birth is simply not true. And another thing, these men were astrologers, a practice which is strongly dissapproved in the bible. So the government wants to promote the "religious " Holiday, Yeah right, since in Bible truth there is nothing religious about it.

Answer 3

Yes, the nativity is religious.

People like Bill O'Reily push the conservative (which in many cases is in bed with the religious right) agenda. By trying to claim Jesus as an historical figure, rather than a religious one, he is attempting to place christianity back into the public eye. It's similar to calling creationism a science. If you use the proper terms, a good chunk of the population will take what you say as fact, regardless of whether or not it is.

Answer 4

That small minority of anti-religous people you seek for suggestion from is likewise me. i'm Jewish. Ifind the Nativity Scenes on public resources to be anti-Semitic. u . s . is a Republic. lower than our structure the rights of the minority must be as respected because the rights of the overall public. i'm not Christian, i hit upon the Nativity Scene at Church's to seem incredible. I see the menorahs at Jewish Temples to be attractive. I also see the pink fabric on the crosses at church homes throughout Easter as tremendous. yet i do not want them on public floor. a sturdy party of it truly is Stone Mountain, Georgia. The land became once owned with the help of the Grand Dragon of the Klu Klux Klan. each and every Easter he and his followers ought to climb the mountain and burn a move. Then for tax motives he gave the land to the State of Georgia. the subsequent 2 years he persevered to burn a move. The ACLU and a set of persons and different communities sued and gained. The move burning has stopped. So in case you positioned up a Nativity Scene on Public resources, am i able to burn a move? am i able to positioned up a Minorah? am i able to erect a Buddah? the position does it end? The Nativity scene on Church resources are incredible to seem at. Nativity scene on Public resources at the instantaneous are not.

Answer 5

Bill O'Reilly is an idiot! That's the most rediculous thing I've ever heard! There were much greater philosophers than Jesus, and we don't have their birth scenes sitting in the town square! How would Christians feel if other religions insisted on their symbols and holidays being portrayed in public?

Answer 6

The Nativity Scene is a religeous symbol. It is one of the symbols of christianity, the religeon this nation was founded on. Our christian for-fathers believed that a person should be given the freedom of choice, to choose to believe in Christ or not. That is reflected in our laws. We have the freedom to choose our mode of faith and worship. Or none at all if that be your inclination. The constitution says there can be no laws made to establish a national religeon. It does not say that symbols of any particular faith cannot be displayed during a federally recognized holiday.

Answer 7

your right, your absolutely right,when you eradicate all this bias and religion from the world and the friction of every other corner of faith and all is out of the way what will u love look like with out any knowledge of how faith is assembled in people how would any thing that was meant to be good stay when it reasons to be there are gone what will u know about a vacuum that is possible a new source of disinformation that is worse too u than religion, i u turn the light off where is the view and what will nothing bring, *** soon as something is gone there is another in it;s place what is the other so we can see it now

Answer 8

To me a Nativity Scene is pretty clearly religious. I think the real discussion gets started when you talk about the "Tree."

Answer 9

The Nativity is clearly a religious symbol - it depicts the birth of Jesus Christ, who is worshipped by 2.1 (or so) billion people - if that's not religious, I don't know what is.

Answer 10

Yes. Mary, baby Jesus, Joseph , the stable, etc are not secular symbols. Anyone who believes otherwise is smoking something illegal.