South Carolina town is refusing to comply with their leftist mayor’s Nativity scene demands

Mullins, South Carolina, is refusing to comply with their leftist mayor’s Nativity scene demands.

It all started around Thanksgiving, when the Mullins Beautification Committee decided to put up a Christmas display in the town’s marketplace using their own funds. They hoped that such a display would entice visitors to bolster the area’s downtown, and perhaps pump a few dollars into the local economy. This is a strategy that is likely familiar to small towns that aren’t exactly tourist hotspots, but apparently, their choice of display was a problem.

Decor included the standard Christmas/winter fare, including snowmen, wreaths and a holly jolly Santa Claus, all the hallmarks of a cheerful holiday season.

However, it also included a Nativity scene. A simple 3-foot-by-4-foot situation that represents the Christian faith. It wasn’t up for very long before Kimberly Byrd, the head of the beautification committee, received a text from Mayor Miko Pickett asking to remove it from city property. Pickett was concerned that the public display of faith mightbe a turn-off for some people of differing beliefs and impact the overall mission of the seasonal display.

“Our small town, we have a church on every corner,” Byrd explained to Fox News Digital. “It’s a faith-based community in the Bible Belt. I’ve been here 53 years of my life and never heard of anything like this happening here.”

“Christ is why we celebrate Christmas,” she pointed out. “I really thought she would probably change her mind or come back and say, ‘I’m sorry, I made a mistake. Let’s have a meeting about this,’ but nothing.”

“How are we supposed to explain to our kids that we have to hide our religion, hide our beliefs, and hide what Christmas is about? Christmas is not about Santa Claus. It’s about the birth of Jesus.”

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But the committee opted to leave it exactly where it is, and has even received the support of several city council members.

On November 26, Pickett took to Facebook to clarify her position, saying the request was made out of concerns for the separation of church and state.

Look:

“I would like to clarify my reported comment about the nativity scene. I requested that the nativity scene be removed solely from the PUBLIC parking area. The reason for this is the separation of Church and State applies to muncipalities as well, regarding religous symbols on public property and parks,” she wrote in her post. “We are a community composed of various ethnicities and religious beliefs. Both my family and I are deeply rooted in our own beliefs. I want to emphasize that I have never stated that nativity scenes should be prohibited in Mullins.”

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“If there was any misunderstanding regarding my request, it was specifically about the PUBLIC space. I take pride in being the mayor for everyone, regardless of whether you voted for me or share the same beliefs as my family. Happy Holidays All!”

Sierra Marlee

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