Donald Trump’s win emboldens Christmas display proponents

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad joined Christian leaders and residents at an event last week to celebrate the first ever display of a traditional Nativity scene inside the state Capitol in Des Moines.

Five days later, members of the Freedom From Religion Foundation were on hand to install a secular display of their own — a metal cutout featuring the Founding Fathers and the Statue of Liberty gazing down at a manger holding the Bill of Rights.

Equal access to the Capitol for nonreligious displays or those celebrating other religions is what establishes the legal grounds for this Christmas Nativity. But in towns across the country, battles rage each holiday season over what sort of religious displays are allowed in public spaces — ranging from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” poster in a Texas school to a cross atop an Indiana town’s Christmas tree.

Proponents of religious displays, who have long been rankled by attempts to push religious expression out of the public sphere, hope Donald Trump’s election will herald new enthusiasm for Christmas cheer. The president-elect early on promised to bring back use of the greeting “Merry Christmas,” eschewing the religion-neutral phrase “Happy Holidays.”

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