Mayor angry over demands to remove town's Nativity Scene installation

Wisconsin advocacy group wants to take down nativity scene and writes to the mayor

Although Christmas is still a few months away, the town of Belen, New Mexico seems to be already celebrating the festive season with its permanent installation of a Nativity scene, set up at a public park.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - The Wisconsin advocacy group Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), sent a letter to the mayor of Belen a month ago after a concerned local citizen got in touch with them and told them about the Nativity scene.

FFRF stated, in their letter, that the Nativity scene on a public property is unconstitutional, as this violates a separation of church and state. Mayor Jerah Cordova, however, finds the Nativity installation as historic rather than religious.

"My first reaction was seething anger," expressed Cordova. "Immediately, I was upset with this organization because, while obviously they have an understanding of constitutional law, and I think I have a pretty good understanding of it, too, they have absolutely no understanding of Belen, of what Belen means and the pride we have in our name. Our town was named Belen for a reason, because our founders wanted it to be named after Bethlehem and of course, what happened in Bethlehem was the birth of Christ, which is something we've expressed since our founding."

FFRF's attorney, Andrew Seidel, wrote, "Even if Belen does indeed translate to Bethlehem, choosing the nativity scene to represent Bethlehem is an explicitly religious choice. This adopts Christian mythology to represent a name that itself is not inherently religious."

Seidel also suggested that the scene should be relocated to a private property or within the vicinity of church grounds.

Since FFRF has already filed lawsuits in the past to get Nativity scenes removed in public places, Cordova already expects the group will file a lawsuit against the city for not complying with their demand and he is already prepared to defend their side.

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