DUNLAP — Two national organizations Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit against the Concord Community Schools over a live Nativity scene that has been part of the high school’s Christmas Spectacular celebration for decades.
The suit by the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union alleges that the Christmas Spectacular — which ends with a scriptural reading from the Bible as religious figures such as Mary, Joseph and the wise men act out the scene — endorses religion in a manner that is illegal in a public school.
The complaint, filed on behalf of a Concord student and his father, asks the U.S. District Court to instruct school officials not to present the live Nativity scene in 2015 or in the future. The complaint also seeks nominal damages of $1 and legal fees, as well as “other proper relief.”
”The Nativity scene and the story of the birth of Jesus are, of course, well-recognized symbols of the Christian faith,” the plaintiffs wrote in the complaint. “Their presence at the Christmas Spectacular is coercive, represents an endorsement of religion by the high school and the school corporation, has no secular purpose and has the principal purpose and effect of advancing religion.”
The lawsuit is not a complete surprise to Concord Community Schools, as the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter regarding the issue to Superintendent John Trout in August. The letter asked the high school to drop the Nativity scene and keep the performance entirely secular. Sam Grover, an attorney with the foundation, said at the time that if the school continued with its Nativity scene, it would expose itself to the risk of legal action.