Broad-based Coalition Terms Nativity Display Near White House As Divisive to Christians and Non-chri

The inclusion of a nativity scene in a Federally-sponsored holiday display near the White House was described as “divisive and disturbing to Christians and non-Christians alike” in a statement signed by a broad-based coalition of religious and civil rights groups.

They included the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, Lutheran Council in the U.S.A., Unitarian Universalist Association of Churches in North America, American Ethical Union, Americans for Religious Liberty, American Civil Liberties Union, American Jewish Committee, and American Jewish Congress.

The statement was issued in the wake of ADL’s unsuccessful request to meet with Secretary of the Interior William Clark in order to reverse the decision to set up the nativity scene.

In a letter to Clark (dated November 26), Kenneth Bialkin, ADL’s national chairman, had challenged the U.S. National Park Service claim that it was constitutional for it to set up the creche on public property near the White House. Requesting a meeting with the Interior Secretary, Bialkin pointed out that the Supreme Court currently has the Scarsdale, N.Y. nativity scene case before it and that the Park Service should have at least waited until the issue is clarified by the Court.

The statement by the coalition said, in part:

“The Park Service claims that this pageant is ‘wholly secular.’ This characterization of the display trivializes the nativity scene which symbolizes for most Christians the incarnation of Jesus as the Messiah. Government sponsorship of this religious symbol offends many Christians because it makes mundane that which is sacred. For those of other religions and for nonbelievers, it stands for government endorsement of one religious message, to the exclusion of others.”