--- title: Nativity-Scene Battles Heat Up as Atheists Create Their Own Displays description: Thanksgiving ushers in a season of holiday spirit, department-store sales — and legal fights over Nativity scenes on public property. This year, opponents of these... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7132556/nativity-scene-battles-atheists-are-now-creating-their-own-displays/ author: Adam Cohen article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2012-11-26T11:55:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-16T09:22:42.638Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Nativity Scene Battles Heat Up As Atheists Create Their Own Displays og:description: A new challenge by non-Christians is changing the way municipalities handle this annual controversy og:url: https://time.com/archive/7132556/nativity-scene-battles-atheists-are-now-creating-their-own-displays/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e2237b8576f9012/698a91890116822a7798badd/nativity.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Image: Nativity scene in Palisades Park, Santa Monica og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Nativity Scene Battles Heat Up As Atheists Create Their Own Displays twitter:description: A new challenge by non-Christians is changing the way municipalities handle this annual controversy twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e2237b8576f9012/698a91890116822a7798badd/nativity.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) # Nativity-Scene Battles: Score One for the Atheists > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs takes readers inside the newsroom, revealing the journalists, ideas and editorial choices behind the stories shaping the global conversation. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=4cdb53f6-3875-4123-9606-10ffd895b599&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Sam Jacobs, Editor-in-Chief | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership Globally minded knowledge seekers. Readers who turn to journalism to understand the world, with meaningful concentrations among educators, students, media professionals, civic institutions and knowledge workers. ### TIME Inside TIME: key statements * Inside TIME is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * Inside TIME is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=4cdb53f6-3875-4123-9606-10ffd895b599&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/subscribe?i=4cdb53f6-3875-4123-9606-10ffd895b599&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is Inside TIME? Inside TIME is a twice-weekly newsletter written by TIME Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs. It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=4cdb53f6-3875-4123-9606-10ffd895b599&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) by [Adam Cohen](https://time.com/author/adam-cohen/) Nov 26, 2012 11:55 AM UTC  Ruben Lucas, 2, of Australia, and his great-grandmother Dot Brown look at a nativity-scene display at Palisades Park in Santa Monica, Calif., on Dec. 12, 2011 Ruben Lucas, 2, of Australia, and his great-grandmother Dot Brown look at a nativity-scene display at Palisades Park in Santa Monica, Calif., on Dec. 12, 2011 Danny Moloshok / REUTERS by [Adam Cohen](https://time.com/author/adam-cohen/) Nov 26, 2012 11:55 AM UTC Thanksgiving ushers in a season of holiday spirit, department-store sales — and legal fights over Nativity scenes on public property. This year, opponents of these Christian displays have scored a victory: a federal judge [upheld](http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/away-with-the-manger-judge-rules-that-santa-monica-can-keep-nativity-scenes-out-of-park/2012/11/19/af6edfbe-32af-11e2-92f0-496af208bf23%5Fstory.html) the decision of Santa Monica, Calif., to ban Nativity scenes on city-owned property. These battles have raged for decades, but the fight in Santa Monica is different. And it suggests why, in the years ahead, this issue may finally be put to rest. The usual pattern for these fights has been for the ACLU or a similar group to sue whenever a scene of Christ’s birth goes up, with the argument that it violates the [First Amendment](http://topics.time.com/first-amendment/) ban on government support for religion. The court then looks at the display and tries to [decide](http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=465&invol=668) if it was put up mainly for a religious purpose or mainly for a secular purpose. In the Santa Monica case, however, critics tried a new tactic. Instead of asking a court to take down the Nativity scenes, located in Palisades Park, they asked for the right to set up their own displays on the same public property. Instead of arguing for censorship, they argued that they deserved equal free-speech rights. (**MORE:** [Can Texas Really Secede from the Union? Not Legally](http://ideas.time.com/2012/11/19/can-texas-really-secede-from-the-union-not-legally/?iid=op-main-lead)) The man who introduced this approach is [Damon Vix](http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-nativity-atheists-20121120,0,1980006.story), a self-proclaimed [atheist](http://www.kcrw.com/people/vix%5Fdamon?role=guest). Three years ago, Vix asked the city government to let him put up an antireligious display in the park alongside the Nativity scenes. Vix’s display included a [quotation](http://ffrf.org/news/news-releases/item/16130-hallelujah-reason-prevails-in-santa-monica) from [Thomas Jefferson](http://topics.time.com/thomas-jefferson/): “Religions are all alike — founded upon fables and mythologies.” Last year, Vix took it up a notch, encouraging other atheists and non-Christians to apply for their own displays. He may not have won any points for good holiday cheer, but it was a smart legal move. The [Supreme Court](http://topics.time.com/supreme-court/) has ruled that when the government opens up public property to private citizens — when it creates a public forum for speech — it cannot discriminate in favor of some viewpoints and against others. A city policy saying Christian displays were allowed on public property but anti-Christian ones were not would violate the First Amendment. To make sure it was acting legally, Santa Monica decided last year to hold a lottery for anyone who wanted to put up an end-of-year display in the park. That did not work out well for supporters of Nativity scenes. Atheists won 18 of the 21 available spaces in the lottery, while a Jewish entrant won one spot and the Nativity scene — which had previously taken up 14 spaces — was left with just two. When the displays went up, vandals tore down an atheist banner. This year, to avoid the effort and cost of running the lottery and dealing with the fallout, the Santa Monica city council simply decided to ban all private, unattended displays in city parks. (**MORE:** [Have We Evolved to Be Religious?](http://ideas.time.com/2012/03/27/have-we-evolved-to-be-religious/)) A coalition of churches challenged the new policy as a violation of their religious rights. But on Nov. 19, U.S. District Court Judge Audrey Collins ruled in favor of the city, saying it had the right to institute an across-the-board ban. That ruling is clearly right on the law: the government does not have to let private citizens put up displays on public property, so long as it bans everyone equally. This tactic of fighting Nativity scenes by demanding equal access seems to be growing. Last year, the Wisconsin-based [Freedom from Religion Foundation](http://ffrf.org/) encouraged its 17,000 members to put up antireligious displays next to Nativity scenes on public property. The group got a sign posted near a Nativity scene on the courthouse lawn in Athens, Texas, that [said](http://abcnews.go.com/US/atheist-group-freedom-religion-foundation-targets-holiday-displays/story?id=15163954#.UK3Qa82Jnjg), “There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven and no hell.” “There is a growing secular movement who wants to be vocal,” Vix [told](http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los%5Fangeles&id=8466038) KABC last year. “We’re happy about what we believe, and we believe we have an equal say, and we’re going to say it.” Demographics bear this out: polls show that even though the U.S. remains an overwhelmingly Christian country, the fastest-growing “religious” group is people with no religion. A Pew survey this year [found](http://www.pewforum.org/Unaffiliated/nones-on-the-rise.aspx) that nonreligious people comprise 20% of the population and one-third of adults under age 30. (**MORE:** [Empty Pews: Everyone Is Misreading the New Numbers of Religiously ‘Unaffiliated’](http://ideas.time.com/2012/10/12/empty-pews-everyone-is-misreading-the-new-numbers-of-religiously-unaffiliated/)) Does this mean Nativity scenes are on the way out — something many Americans would be sad to see? It shouldn’t. There is a whole lot of private land in the country owned by people who would be happy to host a Nativity scene. This includes churches (Santa Monica alone has more than [50 of them](http://www.churchangel.com/WEBCA/santamon.htm)). The future may not be banning Nativity scenes in public during the holiday season but privatizing them. **MORE:** [The Fight over Classroom Prayer](http://ideas.time.com/2012/08/28/a-back-to-school-fight-over-the-right-to-classroom-prayer/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7132556/nativity-scene-battles-atheists-are-now-creating-their-own-displays/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7132556/nativity-scene-battles-atheists-are-now-creating-their-own-displays/"},"headline":"Nativity-Scene Battles: Score One for the Atheists","datePublished":"2012-11-26T11:55:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-16T09:22:42.638Z","description":"Thanksgiving ushers in a season of holiday spirit, department-store sales — and legal fights over Nativity scenes on public property. This year, opponents of these...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7132556/nativity-scene-battles-atheists-are-now-creating-their-own-displays/","keywords":["christmas","Thanksgiving"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e2237b8576f9012/698a91890116822a7798badd/nativity.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Adam Cohen","url":"https://time.com/author/adam-cohen/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e2237b8576f9012/698a91890116822a7798badd/nativity.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Image: Nativity scene in Palisades Park, Santa Monica","caption":"Ruben Lucas, 2, of Australia, and his great-grandmother Dot Brown look at a nativity-scene display at Palisades Park in Santa Monica, Calif., on Dec. 12, 2011","creditText":"Danny Moloshok / REUTERS","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7132556/nativity-scene-battles-atheists-are-now-creating-their-own-displays/","name":"Nativity-Scene Battles: Score One for the Atheists"}}]}] ```