Dispatches from the Culture Wars

That prompted Mayor Marilyn Stephan to form an ad hoc committee to decide how to handle the situation. Should they keep the display and water it down with secular symbols to meet the legal standard and avoid a possible lawsuit, or should they get rid of it? The city council decided to consult with the Berkley Clergy Association, an organization that included nearly every church in town, from the more liberal mainline churches to the more conservative non-denominational (and even pentecostal) churches, and they came up with what seemed like an ideal compromise.

The clergy association suggested that the display be sold to them and they would maintain the display on the grounds of the local United Methodist church next to the post office, still a very well traveled spot in the city but, because it was not public property, outside of the reach of the Allegheny requirements. This would allow the nativity scene to remain on prominent display in the city but also avoid having to be watered down with secular symbolism. In November 2006, the city council voted 6-1 to make the sale, the Berkley Clergy Association voted unainimously to accept it and the nativity scene went on display on private property for the Christmas season last year. City Councilman Phil O'Dwyer remarked:

The decision was made out of respect for the nativity to give it to the clergy and they would display it in downtown Berkley. It was moved there last year and many residents remarked how beautiful and inspirational it looked because it was not cluttered up with those other items. People felt that it was so much more inspirational in the new location.

Some of the people, at least. With the leaders of every Christian church in town supporting this decision, one would think this compromise would have been the end of the issue, but that was not the case. Those who opposed the move quickly formed a group and called themselves STAT - Stopping the ACLU Tyranny. Sometime after that, this group changed its name and became Berkley Citizens Vote YES to Christmas Holiday Display and began a petition drive to amend the city charter to require a nativity display be placed on city hall grounds every year. In July, they succeeded in getting enough signatures and the amendment was placed on the ballot for a vote next month.

Several interview requests sent to the Berkley YES group went unanswered, but a group that opposes the amendment, Citizens for Religious Freedom (CRF), was eager to make clear that this is not an issue that can be framed the way the Berkley Yes group wants to portray it, and the way so many similar battles have been portrayed, as the ACLU against Christianity. In this case, the Christian leaders in Berkley are united in their opposition to the amendment and united in their support of keeping the display on church property where it can be undiluted. The Berkley Clergy Association released this statement:

As an inter-faith clergy association, we take umbrage with the concept that the government should direct or decide where and when we mark our respective religious celebrations, and what should be displayed, and how our various religious symbols are to be used. We strongly oppose diluting the Nativity Scene and other religious symbols, with a mish-mash of secular seasonal items. We wish to see our religious symbols displayed with the dignity and respect they deserve in prominent places at our homes and houses of worship. All of which, we might add, are a vital part of our community. We therefore urge the citizens of Berkley to defeat this proposal by voting NO on November 6th.

Councilman O'Dwyer told me that he believes the main thing driving the campaign to keep the display on city property is their perception that doing so is a win for the ACLU. The original name of the opposition group suggests he may be right, as do many statements from Georgia Halloran, one of the primary voices in the group. Before the council vote to sell the display, Halloran told the Detroit News that moving it to church property would "capitulate to the ACLU" and their website declares, "The people of Berkley get to decide what is right for our community, not some outside group like representatives from the liberal ACLU whose goal is to strip all forms of Christian religious expression in the public square." Rev. Peter Moore of Greenfield Presbyterian Church points out that outside groups are lined up on both sides:

"The ACLU is not the only group who would like to use Berkley for their agenda. The Thomas More Law Center is involved in this issue all around the country too, so they also have an agenda. The notion that the TMLC is coming in to defend our poor little city from the ACLU is just false."

The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a Christian legal group in Ann Arbor that was formed by Domino's founder Tom Monaghan, offered to defend the city against any possible ACLU lawsuit free of charge. The Berkley YES group is coordinating their efforts with the TMLC and for a few days the donation page of their website said that any unused funds would be given to that organization. By contrast, the Citizens for Religious Freedom has pledged that "Any unused funds will be donated to Berkley churches to help feed the hungry at Christmas." The Berkley YES webpage was changed and the statement about donating unused funds to the TMLC removed shortly after the CRF website went up.

The amendment that Berkley YES placed on the ballot specifically requires that the display be modeled after a display upheld in another Michigan town in a 6th circuit case called Doe v Clawson. The group's website says that any display would have "among other items, a nativity scene, gift packages, colored lights, a "Seasons Greetings" sign, and a Santa Claus figure." The irony of the situation is that, while the group has made such a point of saying that they want to make sure the ACLU doesn't win, this is exactly what the ACLU warned the city in late 2005 that they had to do to remain legal. ACLU spokesperson Rana Elmir told me that as long as the display meets the standards found in Allegheny and Clawson, they have no problem with it.

Rev. Moore argues that by demanding a watered down display on public property rather than a respectful, explicitly Christian display on private property, the Berkley YES group "demeans the importance of the nativity," adding, "The nativity scene is a very important Christian symbol and it's not up to the city council to decide how and when it should be displayed. We aren't doing this because we don't think the nativity is important, it's because we think it's so important that it should not be controlled by the city." On November 6th, the city's residents will reveal which side they agree with.