{"id":2516434,"date":"2025-12-02T09:08:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T14:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/progressive-church-alters-traditional-nativity-scene-to-make-anti-trump-political-statement\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T09:11:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T14:11:57","slug":"progressive-church-alters-traditional-nativity-scene-to-make-anti-trump-political-statement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/progressive-church-alters-traditional-nativity-scene-to-make-anti-trump-political-statement\/","title":{"rendered":"Progressive Church Alters Traditional Nativity Scene to Make Anti-Trump Political Statement"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fprogressive-church-alters-traditional-nativity-scene-to-make-anti-trump-political-statement%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2516434&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article criticizes Lake Street Church in Evanston, Illinois, for using its Nativity scene to make a political statement against former President Donald Trump&#8217;s immigration policies. The church depicted baby jesus in zip ties and a Mylar blanket, Mary and joseph wearing gas masks, and Roman soldiers as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The church claimed this installation symbolized forced family separation and drew parallels between the Holy Family&#8217;s refugee experience and modern immigration detention practices, highlighting the use of zip ties on children and tear gas by ICE agents.<\/p>\n<p>The article argues that this <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >politically charged display trivializes<\/a> a sacred Christian narrative, emphasizing that the incarnation of Jesus Christ should be treated with reverence, not used for political propaganda. It also disputes the portrayal of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as refugees, noting that their move to Egypt was self-funded, lawful, and temporary to escape King Herod&#8217;s threat-differing greatly from the modern definition of refugees. the article condemns the church for prioritizing social activism over customary gospel teachings.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>When the far left began to subsume cultural institutions, there was one &ldquo;holy grail&rdquo; (pun very much intended) target that they had their eyes set on: The church.<\/p>\n<p>While some churches resisted the calls to leftism, a fair number of them did not, leading to a rise in hyper-progressive churches that seem more interested in the rainbow of the LGBT movement than the crimson blood of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n<p>Those same churches also became hyper-politicized, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/pope-leo-xiv-defends-pro-abortion-dem-senator-says-opposed-illegal-immigration-not-pro-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">often siding<\/a> with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/secret-censors-babylon-bee-ceo-thinks-facebook-is-moving-beyond-news-to-suppress-wrong-kind-of-comedy\/\" title=\"Secret Censors: Babylon Bee CEO Thinks Facebook Is Moving Beyond News to Suppress Wrong Kind Of Comedy\">left-wing establishment<\/a> when it comes to all things President Donald Trump and his administration &mdash; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/polls-majorities-of-americans-support-trumps-mass-deportations\/\" title=\"Polls: Majorities Of Americans Support ...&#039;s Mass Deportations\">including immigration enforcement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>For the more pious readers (or for those who are not terminally online) this may be hard to grasp.<\/p>\n<p>But if you&rsquo;re struggling to believe that some churches have seriously lost their way, look no further than Lake Street Church of Evanston.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>The Illinois-based church raised all sorts of eyebrows after it decided to take their love of unchecked immigration and disdain for Trump and apply it to one of the most sacred scenes in the Bible.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Church Nativity Scene Features Zip-Tied Baby Jesus, Roman Soliders as ICE Agents <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/B4moHXCKLE\">https:\/\/t.co\/B4moHXCKLE<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uREDeF23N6\">pic.twitter.com\/uREDeF23N6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Protestia (@Protestia) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Protestia\/status\/1995583440553492499?\">December 1, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/protestia.com\/2025\/12\/01\/church-nativity-scene-features-zip-tied-baby-jesus-roman-soliders-as-ice-agents\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Protestia<\/a> reported, Lake Street Church chose to use its Nativity scene to make some sort of half-baked point about Trump and his immigration policies.<\/p>\n<p>The scene included baby Jesus in zip ties and a Mylar blanket. Mary and Joseph are seen in gas masks, while the Roman soldiers are dressed up as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.<\/p>\n<p>According to Protestia, the church claims that &ldquo;this installation reimagines the nativity as a scene of forced family separation, drawing direct parallels between the Holy Family&rsquo;s refugee experience and contemporary immigration detention practices.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The church continued: &ldquo;By placing the Christmas story (Christianity&rsquo;s central narrative of refuge, sanctuary, and sacred family) within the visual language of immigration enforcement and detention, this work asks viewers to confront the disconnect between professed religious or moral values and immigration policies. The emergency blanket references the actual materials used in detention facilities.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The zip ties on the infant&rsquo;s wrists directly reference the children who were zip-tied by agents during a raid on a Chicago apartment building earlier this year, where most residents were U.S. citizens: a stark reminder that enforcement terror does not discriminate by documentation status.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The church further explained: &ldquo;The gas masks worn by Mary and Joseph reference the documented use of tear gas and other chemical weapons deployed by ICE agents against peaceful protesters, journalists, and community members advocating for immigration reform and bearing witness to human rights abuses within the system.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s all a load of crock. One would only need to glance at Lake Street Church&rsquo;s homepage to surmise that this church is far more concerned with social activism than anything resembling spreading the gospel.<\/p>\n<p>For crying out loud, on their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lakestreet.org\/social-justice-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">main page<\/a>, they give equal footing to &ldquo;Social Justice&rdquo; as they do &ldquo;Worship &amp; Music,&rdquo; &ldquo;Children &amp; Youth,&rdquo; and &ldquo;Spiritual Growth.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Once your eyes are done rolling, there are two more glaring, obvious points to make about this church&rsquo;s Nativity scene.<\/p>\n<p>First, the incarnation of the Son of God should&nbsp;<em>never&nbsp;<\/em>be used to make a political point. It should be approached with reverence, not trivialized for propaganda purposes.<\/p>\n<p>Second, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of hearing mindless leftist drones prattle on about how Jesus was a &ldquo;refugee.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Even on a definitional level, it just doesn&rsquo;t work. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph never fled the Roman Empire. They simply resettled to a different territory for a time, and followed all Roman laws in doing so. That&rsquo;s less like a refugee and more like an American simply moving to a different state.<\/p>\n<p>The journey to Egypt itself was also self-funded, and was not exactly a hallmark of the modern refugee.<\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s also worth noting that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph fled to Egypt to escape the murderous intent of King Herod. Once Herod was dead, the family swiftly moved back home. Does that sound <em>at all&nbsp;<\/em>like a modern-day refugee?<\/p>\n<p>Of course not &mdash; and Lake Street Church appears all the more foolish for trying to push that narrative.<\/p>\n<p>Shame on them.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When the far left started taking over cultural institutions, their prime target was the church-a &#8220;holy grail&#8221; of sorts (pun intended). Although some churches resisted adopting leftist views, many did not, resulting in a surge of extremely progressive churches that appear more focused on LGBT issues than on the core message of Jesus Christ. These churches also became highly politicized, often supporting left-wing positions on topics like President Donald Trump and immigration enforcement. For those more devout or less immersed in online culture, this shift may be difficult to understand. But if you doubt that some churches have strayed from their path, look no further than Lake Street Church in Evanston<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2516435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2025-12-01T192008.845.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[6430,46462,46899,68048],"class_list":["post-2516434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-anti-trump","tag-nativity-scene","tag-political-statement","tag-progressive-church"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2025-12-01T192008.845.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2516434"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2516438,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516434\/revisions\/2516438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2516435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2516434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2516434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2516434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}