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Jilly_in_VA

(13,823 posts) Tue Dec 16, 2025, 05:50 PM Dec 16

The Real Reason These Nativity Displays Bother MAGA Christians So Much

A Massachusetts church is under fire for their holiday display featuring a pro-immigrant take on a classic Christmas decoration: the Nativity.

St. Susanna Parish, a Catholic church in Dedham, reportedly first put up the display shortly after Thanksgiving. In lieu of the standard image of Mary, Joseph, shepherds, farm animals and wise men, the church had two simple signs: One reads “ICE was here” and another letting parishioners know “The Holy Family is safe in The Sanctuary of our Church” and advising them to contact the hotline for LUCE, an immigrant justice network.

While far from their first rodeo making statements of this nature, the latest move from the parish follows clear and pointed statements top-down from Catholic leadership on the “dehumanizing” immigration policies in the U.S., including the Pope calling them “disrespectful” himself.

Per Mass Live, Father Stephen Josoma, the priest at St. Susanna, defended the decision on Monday and said that he would refrain from taking down the signage, as requested by the Boston archdiocese, until he could have a clarifying conversation with leadership

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nativity-immigration-ice-protest_l_69386662e4b0447a52b87ef5?origin=article-related-life

When Christians call something ‘sacrilegious,’ what they usually mean is, ‘This challenges the version of Christianity that benefits me"

5 replies

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Highlight:

The Real Reason These Nativity Displays Bother MAGA Christians So Much (Original Post) Jilly_in_VA Dec 16 OP

;-{) Goonch Dec 16 #1

The same reason the status quo hated hippies underpants Dec 16 #2

There is also an element of drmeow Dec 16 #3

Good on the Pope RetiredParatrooper Dec 16 #4

The Pope isn't the head of my church Jilly_in_VA Dec 17 #5

Goonch

(4,254 posts)

1. ;-{)

Reply to Jilly_in_VA (Original post)

Tue Dec 16, 2025, 06:13 PM

Dec 16

underpants

(194,997 posts)

2. The same reason the status quo hated hippies

Reply to Jilly_in_VA (Original post)

Tue Dec 16, 2025, 06:16 PM

Dec 16

Hippies lived the life they professed to and it made them look like hypocrites.

drmeow

(5,929 posts)

3. There is also an element of

Reply to Jilly_in_VA (Original post)

Tue Dec 16, 2025, 07:07 PM

Dec 16

"deep within me there still is a barely alive ember of morality and it pisses me off that you are blowing on it when I'm just waiting for it to go out! This makes me angry cause it is true."

RetiredParatrooper

(83 posts)

4. Good on the Pope

Reply to Jilly_in_VA (Original post)

Tue Dec 16, 2025, 08:18 PM

Dec 16

I am not religious, but when people who blare their gross, phony 'Christianity' (as in hating immigrants, poor people, etc.), hitting them with Matthew 25:31-46 shuts them down pretty quickly.

Jilly_in_VA

(13,823 posts)

5. The Pope isn't the head of my church

Reply to Jilly_in_VA (Original post)

Wed Dec 17, 2025, 12:42 PM

Dec 17

I'n Orthodox, but when I see how much he and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew are trying to put the pieces back together, I am so happy. And these Nativities make me happy because they make us remember that the Holy Family was on the move in a time of turmoil, first from Nazareth to Bethlehem and then all the way to Egypt, most likely to Alexandria where there was a large Jewish presence, with a newborn baby. That's no small journey!

I have an icon that I love very much which depicts the Holy Family as Mexican or Central American immigrants, walking through the night. Mary carries her newborn in a sling and Joseph leads them. I got it about 4 years ago. Sometimes I like the more modern icons.

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