CHRISTMAS CONTROVERSY–Triangle Park in Peshtigo has become a center of controversy between the Wisconsin Freedom From Religion Foundation and the City of Peshtigo for displaying a manger scene. Mayor Tom Strouf has been getting calls from all over the country in his support. The nativity scene will stay and Strouf will pay the electricity bill.

Peshtigo Manger Scene Stays, Inspires Display In Green Bay

The life-size lighted manger scene that forms the centerpiece of the annual Christmas display in the City of Peshtigo’s Triangle Park has become something of a national issue. Phone calls and letters have been coming from all over the country to Mayor Tom Strouf supporting his decision that the Nativity Scene will stay and his offer to personally pay the bill for keeping it lighted.

Tuesday night, Dec. 11, a Nativity Scene was set up under the overhang at the entry to Green Bay City Hall, mostly due to the efforts of Council President Chad Fradette, who paid for the statues and convinced Mayor Jim Schmitt and four of the five members of the city’s Advisory Committee that he should be allowed to set it up on city property. The sole dissenting vote was cast by Alderman Celestine Jeffreys. Fradette, Council Vice President Chris Wery, and Aldermen Tom DeWane and John VanderLeest were in favor. A sixth committee member, Alderman Jerry Wiezbiskie, was absent.

After getting blessings of the committee Tuesday night Fradette, Wery and two maintenance workers spent the next hour setting up the display about 20 feet above the sidewalk, while Mayor Schmitt watched.

They climbed a 20-foot extension ladder to carry items to the roof, including the bale of hay that was placed beneath the manger and the evergreen boughs that festooned the scene after everything else was in place. Spotlights now illuminate the display.

Fradette stated he got the idea after seeing news reports that the Freedom From Religion foundation is considering suing the City of Peshtigo over a Nativity scene in a city park.

“So now the Freedom From Religion Foundation can pick on somebody a little larger than Peshtigo,” Fradette commented to his committee.

Strouf was pleased. “I read in the Green Bay Gazette this morning that the President of Green Bay City Council is backing the City of Peshtigo by placing a Manger Scene at Green Bay City Hall,” he declared Tuesday morning. “I am very proud of Mr. Fradette for being in his position for the city of Green Bay and having the courage to back our little city.” He said Fradette had called him previously and advised him what he was going to try to do. Another suggestion Fradette had for his committee was to establish a park in Green Bay for Christmas displays or displays by any religion, but the committee felt before taking that step they should establish some policies to prevent people from stretching the boundaries of taste.

The Nativity Scene saga in Peshtigo began on Thursday, Dec. 6, when Strouf received a letter from Dan Barker, co-president of the Madison-based national agnostic and atheistic group, “Freedom From Religion Foundation,” protesting the display on city property. Barker stated he was writing, “On behalf of Peshtigo taxpayers and complainants,” and said his organization works to protect the constitutional principle of separation of church and state. He wrote, “It is unlawful for the City of Peshtigo, a secular government, to maintain, erect or host a display that consists solely of a nativity scene, thus singling out, showing preference for and endorsing one religion, and commemorating its most holy day. Compounding this is the tax money spent in illuminating this religious scene on public property.”

Later in the letter Barker cited several Supreme Court decisions regarding separation of church and state, and referred to “the City’s illegal erection of a religious nativity scene on public property.” He said the Supreme Court in 1983 ruled it is impermissible to place a nativity scene as the sole focus of a display on government property or even in concert with a menorah (a Jewish symbol of Hanukkah).

In response to Barker’s letter, Strouf wrote, also on Dec. 6, “I want to thank you for your letter concerning the Nativity Scene at the city park. First of all, I’ve only been the Mayor for one and a half years, and didn’t realize that the money for electricity is paid by the taxpayers (which comes out of the city’s taxes.) Secondly, I suppose that because I’m a Christian, it did not occur to me that the manger scene could offend someone that did not worship. Again, I want to sincerely thank you for bringing this to my attention.”

He continued, “You requested that I respond immediately about the steps I will be taking. I’ve been thinking of how it would be possible for me to give a Christmas present to every taxpayer in the city. I believe God works in mysterious ways, and from reading your letter it confirms my belief. What better way can I give back to the taxpayers than paying for the electrical bill myself? I’ve already instructed the City Clerk to give me the bill when it is due in January. (John 3:16) ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.’ Wow! I guess that makes my gesture kind of insignificant, doesn’t it?

“Have a very Merry Christmas, and may God Bless you,” Strouf’s letter concluded.

Strouf said the Triangle Park Christmas display is sponsored by Peshtigo Chamber of Commerce, and the 12-year-old Nativity scene is owned by that organization. He noted all citizens and businesses in the city are invited to set up holiday displays there, and all sorts of Christmas symbols are displayed.

Barker’s letter to Strouf did not directly threaten a lawsuit, but the Foundation spokesman apparently did so in an interview that made state and national news. He is quoted as calling Strouf’s response to his letter, “the worst possible thing he could have done,” and as having asked, “If the city loses the lawsuit, would the mayor pay the legal fees out of his own salary as well?”

Whatever concern that question may or may not have generated now apparently is moot. Strouf said the story broke locally and in Green Bay on Saturday, and before noon on Monday he had received 27 telephone calls at his office in support of maintaining the Nativity Scene display and none in opposition. By the time he quit counting on Tuesday, Strouf had received over 50 calls, all in support of the Nativity scene. None were against.

One of the calls came from a spokesman for the “Alliance Defense Fund,” (ADF) based in Phoenix, Az., who, after talking with Strouf, offered to supply legal defense free of charge should the city be faced with a lawsuit over the Christmas display or Strouf’s defense of it. The organization’s spokesman also called the Peshtigo Times to publicly offer legal support for the city as needed.

ADF describes itself as, “a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation,” and is known for defending Christian right to freedom of speech and expression issues in the courts.

An agreement settled last week with the help of ADF attorneys is the reason a Nativity scene is displayed this year in the rotunda of the State Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Arguments by ADF, supported by the courts, were if other Christmas symbols are allowed the Nativity scene cannot be excluded.

Strouf calls supporting his position in the Nativity scene controversy have been coming from people who read about Peshtigo in their local newspapers all over the county, including a brother in Phoenix, Ariz., and friends and relatives in California.

An elderly couple in Wallace, Mich. said they have very little money but would like to help pay the light bill.

A letter came from a couple in Green Bay with a $100 check to help pay for lighting or for legal defense if necessary.

There were calls from City of Green Bay and Brown County officials supporting the Peshtigo position.

An article in a Green Bay newspaper says Barker was prompted to write his letter to Strouf after noticing the Peshtigo display while driving through the city recently. The trip may or may not have had a connection with a letter the City of Menominee received from Barker’s co-president, Annie Laurie Gaylor, early in November protesting the Nativity scene in the bandshell of Menominee’s Great Lakes Memorial Marina Park

Menominee received a letter from Gaylor after its Parks and Recreation Committee agreed to replace a damaged figure from the Nativity Scene that each year is part of the city’s traditional Christmas decorations. The committees approval came despite a warning from their city attorney the action might border on illegal infringement on separation of church and state.

News of this advice and the committee’s decision to proceed anyway apparently brought on Gaylor’s letter, in which she claimed to represent city taxpayers. She said paying to light the display was illegal, as was paying to replace the damaged figure.

The committee agreed its decision would stand, but subsequently accepted an offer from a Menominee Woman’s Club group to take over responsibility for the display and pay the light bill. The Menominee display now includes various Christmas symbols in addition to the Nativity Scene, including Santa Claus, Snowmen, Christmas trees, candy canes, etc.

In a subsequent letter Gaylor criticized the resulting display as “insulting” to Christians. She suggested the various symbols border on sacrilege when displayed along with the Nativity Scene. The Menominee display stands, Manger Scene intact, and spokesmen for the Club have said they expect to continue sponsoring the display in future.

In his letter to Strouf Barker said making a Nativity scene the sole focus of a display on public property is illegal, then went on to say, “The fact that your park also includes private holiday wishes (most or all of which are entirely secular, not offending non-Christian customers or friends) makes your display worse since it shows that the city’s role is to advance religion in the park. (It is also ironic and disrespectful that the crèche is displayed next to the historical marker commemorating the 1871 “act of God” fire that destroyed your city, killing more than 600 people, many of whom trusted in that baby Jesus, who, if he really existed, let them down tragically.)”

Barker went on, “When the City displays this manger scene, which depicts the legendary birth of the Christian god, it places the imprimatur of City government behind one religious doctrine. This excludes citizens who are not Christians - Jews, Native American religion practitioners, animists, etc., as well as the significant and growing portion of the US population that is not religious at all (14 percent of adults), including complainants and taxpayers in your city. Your action sends ‘an unmistakable message that it supports and promotes the Christian praise to God that is the creche’s religious message...The government may acknowledge the secular Christmas holiday as a cultural phenomenon, but under the First Amendment it may not observe it as a Christian holy day by suggesting that people praise God for the birth of Jesus.’ (County of Allegheny)”

He concludes, “There are ample private and church grounds where religious displays may be freely placed in your city. But once the City enters into the religion business, endorsing and preferring one religion over others, it strikes a blow at religious liberty, forcing taxpayers of all viewpoints to support a particular expression of worship. May we hear from you immediately about what steps you are taking to remedy this egregious violation of Supreme Court guidelines and the First Amendment?”

Donald Downs, a Constitutional law expert and professor of political science, law, journalism and mass communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, appears to disagree with Barker regarding legality of the Peshtigo display. He is quoted, “The fact that holiday decorating is open to everyone lets the city off the hook.” He said case law allows for religious symbols to be displayed so long as other kinds of secular symbols are permitted as well.

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