An Iowa Fire Department has removed a nativity scene that they have put up annually for the last decade and a half after a complaint from the Freedom from Religion Foundation.
The organization has a long history of filing lawsuits against any perceived intermingling of religion and government.
The Toledo Fire Department received a letter from the organization last week, which said, "We write to request that the City remove this nativity display from public property out of respect for the First Amendment and the diversity of the Toledo community."
Local station KCRG reports that the nativity scene was promptly moved to the yard of a retired firefighter a couple of hundred feet away.
The organization was alerted to the nativity by a man named Justin Scott, who does not even live in Toledo.
Many locals are not happy with the decision.
Approximately 75 people attended Toledo’s City Council meeting on Monday night to request that the display be moved back to its traditional spot.
“I get the separation of church and state. I mean, that’s, you can’t question that. It’s just— it took everybody by surprise,” said Mayor Brian Sokol, according to KCRG's report.
“Majority rules. That’s right, ladies,” said resident Dawn Hoskey, who spoke during the meeting. “The majority should be able to say what it is we want.”
Sammi Lawrence, a lawyer with the Freedom from Religion Foundation, told the station that "majority rule" is exactly what they are trying to prevent.
“The Bill of Rights was written to protect the minority from majority rule,” Lawrence said. “Just because a lot of people, or the majority of people, want something doesn’t mean that that something is necessarily constitutional or the best policy choice.”
Council member Terry Goodhart said that other non-Christians complained after the letter was sent.
“Our EMS Director said that he has had some—I don’t know how to say this—persons of not-Christian religion, in Toledo, come down and talk to him,” said Goodhart.
According to the Freedom from Religious Foundation's website, the organization's lawsuits "have removed Ten Commandments and Jesus paintings from public schools, stopped city/school board prayer; halted school subsidy of child evangelism, removed nativity scenes and Christian crosses from public property, and stopped censorship of freethought displays, literature distribution, license plates and invocations."
The organization listed "Halting federal funds to a bible school offering no academic classes," "Ending millions of tax dollars used to repair and maintain churches," "Halting a government chaplaincy to minister to state workers," "Winning a federal court decision overturning a law declaring Good Friday a state holiday," "Successfully suing the Trump Administration over its executive order against church politicking," and "Successfully suing the IRS to reinstitute investigations of church politicking" as other accomplishments.
Toledo’s city attorney is reviewing options to try to move the nativity scene back to the fire department.
