{"id":2524104,"date":"2025-12-22T18:59:59","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T23:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/townspeople-defy-mayor-refuse-to-remove-nativity-scene-despite-her-orders\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T19:03:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T00:03:19","slug":"townspeople-defy-mayor-refuse-to-remove-nativity-scene-despite-her-orders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/townspeople-defy-mayor-refuse-to-remove-nativity-scene-despite-her-orders\/","title":{"rendered":"Townspeople Defy Mayor, Refuse to Remove Nativity Scene Despite Her Orders"},"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%2Ftownspeople-defy-mayor-refuse-to-remove-nativity-scene-despite-her-orders%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=2524104&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>In Mullins, South Carolina, Mayor Miko Pickett asked that a Nativity scene on public property be removed, citing separation of church and state and concern that the display made the city appear nonneutral on religion. Kimberly Byrd, chair of the Mullins beautification Committee, refused to take it down, saying she and other volunteers paid for the display and that removing it would be an affront to their Christian convictions. The article defends Byrd&#8217;s stance, arguing that the Founders&#8217; idea of a &#8220;wall of separation&#8221; addressed government-established, tax-supported churches rather than forbidding religious imagery on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/san-mateo-county-california-to-pay-to-encourage-even-more-homelessness\/\" title=\"San Mateo County, California to Pay to Encourage Even More Homelessness\">public grounds<\/a>. The piece contends that a privately funded Nativity does not constitute establishment and therefore does not violate the Constitution, criticizes strict interpretations of church-state neutrality, and suggests that civil disobedience may be warranted to push back against such removals.  <\/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><\/p>\n<p>On the whole, conservatives tend to reject chaos in favor of order and deference to properly constituted authorities.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, as Marxists and cowards proliferate in public offices nationwide, we will need some good old-fashioned civil disobedience.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/wpde.com\/news\/local\/i-stand-for-jesus-committee-defies-mayors-order-to-remove-nativity-scene-in-mullins-miko-pickett-facebook-page-manger-christmas-holiday-decorations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WPDE-TV<\/a> in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Mayor Miko Pickett of Mullins, South Carolina, ordered the removal of a Nativity scene on public property, only to have the chair of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lubbock-becomes-largest-city-in-u-s-to-outlaw-abortion\/\" title=\"Lubbock Becomes Largest City In U.S. To Outlaw Abortion\">committee responsible<\/a> for the display refuse to remove it.<\/p>\n<p>Kimberly Byrd, chair of the Mullins Beautification Committee, defended the display and her decision to ignore the mayor.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It makes us feel bad,&rdquo; Byrd said. &ldquo;It makes us feel upset because we didn&rsquo;t mean any harm by it and I don&rsquo;t think we have to apologize for putting up a manger scene because without the manger there is no Christmas.&rdquo;<\/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>&ldquo;Because I stand for Jesus and if he says in the Bible that if you deny me, he will deny me when I get to Heaven and I&rsquo;m not taking my it down,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;If they want to take it down, they can take it down but if they take it down we&rsquo;ll take all of our decorations down because that&rsquo;s just how strongly I&rsquo;m convicted about this.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Byrd and other committee members paid out-of-pocket for the Nativity scene and other decorations.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, late last month on the social media platform Facebook, Pickett explained that she &ldquo;requested&rdquo; the Nativity&rsquo;s removal because &ldquo;the separation of Church and State applies to muncipalities as well, regarding religous symbols on public property and parks.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fmikocares%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0Y4EYwuhb7MKJCPaebLeaXNaim553ktXRaKiAZJPckyJm53m38fGaeExeVpUmAHEpl&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"297\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Nativity, according to Pickett, made the city appear &ldquo;not neutral&rdquo; on religion, per WPDE.<\/p>\n<p>Alas, if only Americans understood the separation of church and state, they would not make such statements as Pickett did.<\/p>\n<p>The most famous expression of that vaunted principle came from then-President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/vance-holds-jeffersons-madisons-view-freedom-religion-based-christianity-tells-tpusa-crowd\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Thomas Jefferson<\/a>.&nbsp; In an 1802 <a href=\"https:\/\/founders.archives.gov\/documents\/Jefferson\/01-36-02-0152-0006\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">letter<\/a>, Jefferson touted the First Amendment&rsquo;s &ldquo;wall of separation between Church &amp; State.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>As anyone who has spent time studying early American history can attest, however, that principle had nothing to do with barring Christian imagery from public grounds. Proponents of the 18th-century Enlightenment, including Jefferson, denounced church establishment, which meant tax-supported Christian denominations.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, neither the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/founding-docs\/constitution-transcript\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Constitution<\/a> nor the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/founding-docs\/bill-of-rights-transcript\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bill of Rights<\/a> holds governments to a strict standard of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alito-raises-critical-race-theory-in-supreme-court-argument-over-maine\/\" title=\"Alito Raises Critical Race Theory in Supreme Court Argument over Maine\">religious neutrality<\/a>. The latter merely prohibits establishment.<\/p>\n<p>Since a Nativity on public grounds does not establish a tax-supported church, it cannot violate the separation principle.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, no court, including the Supreme Court, has the authority to declare that it does. Never mind the larger principle that the Constitution itself never authorized SCOTUS to act as its exclusive expositor. The immediate problem is that no fair reading of either the Founding documents or the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cnn-panel-suffers-embarrassing-meltdown-because-of-how-nancy-mace-pronounced-kamala\/\" title=\"CNN Panel Suffers Embarrassing Meltdown Because of How Nancy Mace Pronounced &#039;Kamala&#039;\">broader history<\/a> of the United States would allow for the interpretation that a Nativity on <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >public grounds runs counter<\/a> to the People&rsquo;s will, which, after all, constitutes the only true source of sovereignty in a republic.<\/p>\n<p>If it takes a bit of civil disobedience to remind government officials of that fact, then so be it.<\/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>Conservatives favor order; mayor ordered removal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2524105,"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\/Nativity-scene.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[69266,37198,69267,46462,32274],"class_list":["post-2524104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-community-protest","tag-local-government","tag-mayor-controversy","tag-nativity-scene","tag-religious-freedom"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Nativity-scene.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524104","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=2524104"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2524108,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2524104\/revisions\/2524108"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2524105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2524104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2524104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2524104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}