This is the time of year when people cruising Route 66 will see many outdoor decorations commemorating the upcoming Christmas holiday.
The Claremont United Methodist Church, situated along Foothill Boulevard (aka Route 66) in Claremont, California, recently put up a Christmas-themed nativity of the figures of Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus Christ.
But this nativity comes with a key difference — the figures are separated by individual cages.
The church, which describes itself as “progressive” on its website, stated this purpose behind the nativity:
In a time in our country when refugee families seek asylum at our borders and are unwillingly separated from one another, we consider the most well-known refugee family in the world, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the Holy Family.
Shortly after the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary were forced to flee with their young son from Nazareth to Egypt to escape King Herod, a tyrant. They feared prosecution and death.
What if this family sought refuge in our country today?
Imagine Joseph and Mary separated at the border and Jesus, no older than two, taken from his mother and placed behind the fences of a Border Patrol detention center as more than 5,500 children have in the past three years. […]
Inside this church, you will see this same family reunited, the Holy Family together, in a nativity that joins the angels in singing “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and good will to all.” — Luke 2:14.
The Rev. Karen Clark Ristine, a pastor of the church, posted a photo of the nativity on Facebook. It received more than 10,000 reactions and 11,000 comments in less than two days.
The Los Angeles Times, one of the first media outlets to report the story, got this quote from the preacher:
“We don’t see it as political; we see it as theological. I’m getting responses from people I don’t know … I am having people tell me that it moved them to tears. So if the Holy Family and the imagery of the Holy Family and the imagery of a Nativity is something you hold dear, and you see them separated, then that’s going to spark compassion in many people.”
A few people complained on social media about the nativity being used as “a political statement.” A report in the Washington Post notes:
Some scholars say the first nativity scene, created by St. Francis of Assisi in the 13th century, was itself a political statement because Francis hoped it would call attention to the suffering of the poor. In an interview with America magazine, Felicity Harley-McGowan, a Yale University lecturer, said nativities have been a means “to articulate contemporary concerns” for centuries.
The furor and praise bring to mind the “Homeless Jesus” sculpture created a few years ago. Apparently the sculpture was so realistic, it prompted a few people to call the police and urge them to move that vagrant.
Pope Francis weighed in, according to its creator, Timothy Schmalz, when a miniature version of the sculpture was presented:
“He walked over to the sculpture, and it was just chilling because he touched the knee of the Jesus the Homeless sculpture, and closed his eyes and prayed. It was like, that’s what he’s doing throughout the whole world: Pope Francis is reaching out to the marginalized.”
“Homeless Jesus” statues were erected several cities, including the Route 66 towns of Chicago and Oklahoma City. According to one official whose church put up a statue, people often are seen sitting on the bench, resting their hands on Jesus and praying.
(Image of the caged nativity scene via Claremont United Methodist Church website)
Disgraceful…….
Am speechless other than three words,… Ridiculous Non-Scripture Nativity.
Since there is so little “evidence” about what did or did not happen some two thousand years ago, it is hard to comment on this “nativity scene”.
Disgusting. The United Methodist Church has lost its way and the real reason for the season: Jesus our Savior.
If you are disgusted by this nativity, where is your disgust at what Trump is doing to thousands of immigrants and their children? And remember folks – if you are not Native American, at some point someone in your family was an immigrant who came here more than likely to have a better life. Hence the life you yourself have today. For as much disgust as this nativity may be creating, use it to take a hard look at the USA today. Is the environment we are in now, in the USA, one you really want your grandkids raised in?
Tonya Pike – please explain why it is Central and South Americans who are flocking illegally to the USA, and why there are no masses of Americans trying to enter Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, etc. Could it be that the USA is a successfully economic country – after centuries of its citizens buckling down and working diligently and productively, while the citizens in most of those in Central and South America refuse to discipline themselves and do what Americans have been doing all this time? Tell me.
One other difference between the USA and ALL the countries south of it: the USA is basically a Protestant country; ALL the others are Catholic. Coincidence? I think not.
Of note: The pastor mentioned in this article produced a Route 66 calendar with her own photography in the year 2000. It sold at K Mart, Raley’s and several additional retailers.
One fact is evident, Mary gave birth to Jesus and placed him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn. Baby Jesus wasn’t placed in a wire cage.
Just about the only certainty is that there were three people: Joseph, Mary and Jesus. What was Mary – nine months pregnant – doing going with only her cousin Joseph to Bethlehem? Why no other female company? In such a patriarchial society, why the need for a heavily pregnant woman to travel AT LEAST SEVENTY MILES (Nazareth to Bethlehem) just “to be taxed”? Most houses in those days – not just “inns” – would have had animal outhouses, with mangers. How many other NINE MONTH PREGNANT women travelled SEVENTY MILES just to be taxed? So many unliklihoods.