Iowa Fire Department at Center of Nativity Scene Controversy

An Iowa fire department that has hosted a nativity scene during the holidays for the past fifteen years, has found itself at the center of a First Amendment controversy about the separation between church and state. The Freedom From Religion Foundation requested the Mayor and City Council of the City of Toledo to remove a nativity scene from the front of the Toledo Fire Department’s station. A copy of the letter is posted below.

The letter dated December 7, 2023 cites four US Supreme Court cases in support of its request. In response, the city took the scene down while it considered the matter. That in turn sparked a public outcry from the community. In the interim while the city contemplates a final decision, the scene was relocated to the home of a retired firefighter who lives nearby.

Oddly, the FFRF did not cite the leading case on nativity scenes on public property, Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668 (1984). In that case the Court concluded that a nativity scene that was part of other holiday-themed displays did not violate the First Amendment prohibition on the establishment of a religion. The court emphasized the importance of context, as well as consideration of the secular meaning behind the display. Quoting from the decision:

• The concept of a “wall” of separation between church and state is a useful metaphor but is not an accurate description of the practical aspects of the relationship that in fact exists.
• The Constitution does not require complete separation of church and state; it affirmatively mandates accommodation, not merely tolerance, of all religions, and forbids hostility toward any.
• Our history is pervaded by official acknowledgment of the role of religion in American life, and equally pervasive is evidence of accommodation of all faiths and all forms of religious expression and hostility toward none.
• Rather than taking an absolutist approach in applying the Establishment Clause and mechanically invalidating all governmental conduct or statutes that confer benefits or give special recognition to religion in general or to one faith, this Court has scrutinized challenged conduct or legislation to determine whether, in reality, it establishes a religion or religious faith or tends to do so.
• Here, the focus of the inquiry must be on the creche in the context of the Christmas season. Focus exclusively on the religious component of any activity would inevitably lead to its invalidation under the Establishment Clause.
• Based on the record in this case, the city has a secular purpose for including the creche in its Christmas display and has not impermissibly advanced religion or created an excessive entanglement between religion and government.
• The display is sponsored by the city to celebrate the Holiday recognized by Congress and national tradition and to depict the origins of that Holiday; these are legitimate secular purposes.
• Whatever benefit to one faith or religion or to all religions inclusion of the creche in the display effects, is indirect, remote, and incidental, and is no more an advancement or endorsement of religion than the congressional and executive recognition of the origins of Christmas, or the exhibition of religious paintings in governmentally supported museums.
• This Court is unable to discern a greater aid to religion from the inclusion of the creche than from the substantial benefits previously held not violative of the Establishment Clause.

Here is a copy of the FFRF’s December 7, 2023 letter:

Here is a copy of Lynch v. Donnelly:

UPDATE: December 14, 2023 – Nativity scene returns to Toledo Fire Department with an addition to make it constitutional.