Occasion marks finish of years-long authorized battle
For the primary time in historical past, a Nativity scene was displayed on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Tuesday, marking what organizers say is a milestone for spiritual freedom and the First Modification.
The show, accompanied by prayer, Christmas carols and a studying of the Christmas story, was made doable by a landmark federal courtroom choice that granted Rev. Patrick Mahoney and his supporters the precise to peacefully rejoice the Christmas season on Capitol grounds.
Held on the southeastern steps of the Capitol, the show was the fruits of a authorized battle that started over a decade in the past when Mahoney, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian Protection Coalition, confronted repeated threats of arrest for his makes an attempt to learn the Christmas story from the Bible and maintain a Nativity show on the Capitol Christmas tree.
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On Wednesday, Mahoney shared his gratitude for the prospect to share the message of Christmas in such a politically vital location.
Sue Dorfman, a photographer for ZUMA Press, captured the second with a picture of the Nativity scene on the Capitol.
7 months in the past, we’d’ve been arrested for having this Nativity Show on the steps of the US Capitol. Nevertheless, we received an historic federal lawsuit by the unbelievable work of the Heart for American Liberty which allowed us on the steps! @Liberty_Ctr@pnjaban… pic.twitter.com/0yObLMhCvw
— Rev. Patrick Mahoney (@revmahoney) December 11, 2024
Mahoney wrote on X: “7 months ago, we would’ve been arrested for having this Nativity Display on the steps of the US Capitol. However, we won an historic federal lawsuit through the incredible work of the Center for American Liberty which allowed us on the steps!”
In his put up, Mahoney tagged civil rights advocate Heart for American Liberty Govt Director Mark Trammell and Harmeet Dhillon, a California civil rights legal professional nominated by President-elect Donald Trump for the same function on the U.S. Division of Justice.
In an announcement, Mahoney supplied his gratitude for making historical past.
“We are so very thankful for the opportunity to share the joyful and powerful message of Christmas at the steps of the U.S. Capitol,” Mahoney stated. “In a hurting and wounded world, there is no more redemptive and healing message than the Christmas story.”
The street to this historic second was paved by Mahoney’s 2022 federal lawsuit, which challenged the Capitol’s restrictions on public demonstrations. Regardless of the federal authorities’s resistance, Mahoney argued that the U.S. Capitol — a spot symbolic of democracy and freedom — needs to be an area the place all Individuals can train their First Modification rights, together with the liberty to specific spiritual beliefs.
In his lawsuit, Mahoney said, “The ‘People’s House,’ as the U.S. Capitol Building is so rightly called, must be a place where all Americans are afforded the right to come and peacefully celebrate and express their First Amendment rights. Tragically, those rights and freedoms are being denied and prohibited.”
He contended that whereas lawmakers, media, lobbyists and vacationers had been free to enter and use the Capitol grounds, his personal request for a peaceable demonstration was denied. Mahoney had sought permission to carry a Good Friday service, praying for peace, spiritual freedom and the therapeutic of countries.
In Might 2024, the U.S. District Court docket for the District of Columbia dominated in Mahoney’s favor, declaring the Capitol steps to be a public discussion board the place peaceable demonstrations may not be prohibited. This choice set a precedent that ensured the steps of the Capitol could possibly be used for public expressions of spiritual religion, together with the show of a Nativity scene.
“This is also a significant victory for religious freedom and the First Amendment,” Mahoney stated in an announcement. “This event has ended and won the war on Christmas in the public square. For if Christmas can be celebrated and displayed in the most powerful public square in America, it can be celebrated publicly everywhere.”
“Well bless their hearts.”
