A 57-year tradition of placing a nativity scene outside city hall has come to an end in Canonsburg, PA — and all it took was one complaint.
The borough manager asked the local Knights of Columbus chapter to relocate Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus over a separation of church and state issue.
“We just asked them politely to move it and they complied, Borough manager Terry Hazlet told the Observer-Reporter.
The complaint came from a local resident who called the nativity, “highly disrespectful to the citizens of the borough (who) are not Christians.”
The resident noted that there are several manger scenes around town and therefore, “we don’t need another in front of a government building.”
Some local residents were pretty upset.
“The Christmas tree is now a holiday tree,” Michael Alterio told the newspaper. “I think the whole community, whether Methodist or Presbyterian, surely can’t be happy about it.”
And so ends a 57-year tradition.
Baby Jesus Evicted
A 57-year tradition of placing a nativity scene outside city hall has come to an end in Canonsburg, PA — and all it took was one complaint.
The borough manager asked the local Knights of Columbus chapter to relocate Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus over a separation of church and state issue.
“We just asked them politely to move it and they complied, Borough manager Terry Hazlet told the Observer-Reporter.
The complaint came from a local resident who called the nativity, “highly disrespectful to the citizens of the borough (who) are not Christians.”
The resident noted that there are several manger scenes around town and therefore, “we don’t need another in front of a government building.”
Some local residents were pretty upset.
“The Christmas tree is now a holiday tree,” Michael Alterio told the newspaper. “I think the whole community, whether Methodist or Presbyterian, surely can’t be happy about it.”
And so ends a 57-year tradition.
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