Cross restored to town's beloved Christmas tree

It was not so much as a Christmas miracle as it was a Christmas compromise, but the good news is the cross has been returned to the town Christmas tree in Knightstown, Indiana.

The cross had been removed from atop the town’s Christmas tree several weeks ago after the ACLU of Indiana filed a lawsuit on behalf of a local resident who was offended by the Christian symbol.

“This town has a big heart,” Knightstown United Methodist Church pastor Curt Hunt told me. “It felt like that heart got ripped out when that cross was taken down from that tree.”

The ACLU faced a severe backlash from outraged citizens from across the country.

This was just concerned citizens coming together to defend the rights of everyone to express freedom of religion,” the pastor told me. “We decided we needed to draw a line in the sand and show the world we have those rights to express our religion.”

As part of the agreement, the cross cannot be posted atop the tree, but it can be posted near the top and it can also be lighted – provided there are other lighted ornaments, Fox 59 reports.

And sure enough on Thursday the cross was posted just below the star that now adorns the tree top – much the delight of local residents.

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