Nativity Scenes During Christmas?

Question

I am FUMING right now. I own a home. I want to put up a nativity scene in my front lawn. The town ordinance bans this because of some separation of religion/state thing; HOWEVER, the town says it is all right to put up a santa scene. I just don’t get it… why is it all right to put up a fictional scene like santa, yet it is not all right to put up a nativity scene. Some consider Jesus to be fictional. Whatever your belief is, why should I suffer by not being allowed to express my artistic ability on MY OWN FRONT LAWN? I paid good money for my property only to be told what I can and can’t do with it during the seasons.

I got back at them though. I put up a “santa” scene where I got a miniature airplane and hung it like it was flying. I have santa “splattered” all over the window of this plane. They are trying to get that banned, but the court to backed me up.

My question is – Why can’t I do with my own front lawn what I choose to do with it???

I am surprised that the word "Christmas" hasn't been changed to "$mas"

Answer 1

That does sound like a you have a legal cause of action. Separation of church and state does means a government office can't have a nativity scene in front of it.

But as a private citizen you are not part of "the state" your home can have what ever religious images it wants. In fact the whole idea of separation of church and state comes from a notion that the founders did not want the government to tell them how they could celebrate their religion, and it is one of the bedrocks of this nation.

I would fight that.

Answer 2

The town ordinance CANNOT ban you from putting up a nativity scene on your property. It can prohibit ITSELF from putting up a nativity scene on government owned property. It is VERY unlikely that the government could ever prohibit a nativity scene and not other holiday displays on private property. That would violate the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause and the First Amendment Free Speech Clause, because it is a content based restriction on speech and a religiously motivated restriction on free exercise. Seriously, if the town has a "no nativity on private property" ordinance, you need to approach the ACLU (who will support you) or other civil liberties groups to challenge the ordinance on First Amendment grounds.

Now, you may have a restrictive covenant in your subdivision or your neighborhood that restricts what you can do to decorate for the holidays, but that has NOTHING to do with the Establishment Clause.

The government can make speech and religious neutral regulations about what you do on your property -- for example, you can't have public nuisances, you can't kill people on your property (for religious purposes or not), you can't keep trashed out cars on your lawn... but what they can't do is say "you can put up this sort of message on your private property but not that sort."
If someone told you otherwise, either your government is completely violating the law or you've completely misunderstood them.

Now, once again, is this a town ordinance or is it a restrictive covenant? Because if you live in a particular development, that developer (and the neighborhood associatino) can oftentimes have strange rules -- what color your house can be, whether you can have a basketball hoop, the variety of grass, when you have to bring your trash cans in, etc. YOU agreed to those regulations when you bought a house so that YOU could be guaranteed that your neighbors would do the same thing. Except for some racially restrictive covenants, those are generally enforceable.

e-mail me if you have further questions. The thing that scares me is that people are going to use your example as some sort of "government run amok" and as proof that government is stifiling religion. The simple fact is that either you're mistaken or your government is the most unconstitutional I've ever heard of.

Answer 3

First of all there is no such thing as seperation of church and state, and you can challenge them to show you where those words are written or implied in any of our founding documents. Secondly they can't ban you from putting up anything religious on your own property unless you live in an HOA and there rules prevent it. I would sue and try to get it all the way to the Supreme Court, this seperation crap has to stop. You can also take a secular or non-religious approach and state it's historical value. Religious or not it is a part of history and did happen. Just asa reminder here is the first ammendment in its entirety:

Amendment I
CONGRESS shall make NO LAW respecting an establishment of religion, or PROHIBITING THE FREE EXCERCISE THEROF; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

And Christmas no longer exists, it is happy holiday not merry christmas, holiday trees not christmas trees, and so on. Remember when we were younger and schools, parents, and probably many other taught us that majority rules, was a lie. Minority rules these days, if 1 person has a problem with something noone is allowed to do it. I have changed my childrens schools many times because of this idiotic mentality

Answer 4

Dude, I'm with you 100%. Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is not about Santa or elves or trees or anything like that. These are things that have evolved over time and I have no problem with them. The problem I have is Christians constantly being attacked. I bet there are menorahs in windows in your neighborhood. If your "Santa" display was approved by the courts, why not push it and put up a nativity scene. They can't use the separation of church and state because your property is private. If you live within a community with a homeowners association then you're screwed. Otherwise, I think a court would back you. Good Luck and Merry Christmas.

Answer 5

No. If a Nativity scene is positioned up in a park then different non secular communities opt for publicity too. 18 out of 21 nativity scenes the position refused with techniques from a court docket in CA presently. there is an ongoing warfare hostile to the Christian faith.

Answer 6

I'd be fuming too! We have some towns around here that even dictate the color of a house. My theory is if I paid for it, I'll do what I want with it.

Hey, why don't you set up the nativity scene and put Santa in with the 3 wise men?? Comet, Cupid and the rest of them could hang out with the camel, sheep and donkey.

Merry Christmas!

Answer 7

You can put up a nativity scene in your front lawn if you want, and any local ban is patently unconstitutional. There is no seperation of church and state, that phrase is not found anywhere in the text of the Constitution. It only says that "Congress shall pass no law respecting an establishment of religion." As long as Congress didn't pass a law about your front lawn, you're fine. Put up a nativity scene if you want to, and tell anyone who wants to do anything about it that they will find themselves in court.

Answer 8

There is no separation of church and state issue regarding private property, only federally owned/funded property. You can put pretty much anything you want on your own property - billboards and pornographic material generally excluded. (If you have a Home Owners Assocation though, there may be CC&Rs that restrict what you can do - you accepted those as part of your purchase of the property).

Put your ornaments up and let them take you to court. They'll be laughed out.

Don't forget though - Christmas has absolutely nothing to do with the birth of Christ. Historians studying ancient scriptures have determined he was born on or around March 28. And the festival of Christmas was borrowed from the pagan "Saturnalia" ritual, which included drunkenness and public sex, and rounded off with the public execution of an innocent man to placate the gods. Not quite what you'd think!

Answer 9

It's your front lawn. A town can't tell you that you can't put up a nativity scene on your own front lawn. They might be able to set restrictions on it (like min distance from road, wattage and hours of running lights, etc), but they can't stop you.

A home-owner's association can, on the other hand, prevent you from doing this, but that's different than a town, which is a govt entity.

The govt CANNOT infringe on your rights to your religion on your property. That's in the Constitution.

Do it and sue them you have to,

Answer 10

Sorry, but you CAN put up a Nativity Scene on your own property. Could it be a homeowners association telling you you can't put it up. Seperation of church and state does not apply to individual property owners and a town would be wrong to ban it. This is what makes me think this is a homeowners assoc.