{"id":6015,"date":"2025-02-13T18:09:38","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T23:09:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/?p=6015"},"modified":"2025-02-13T18:09:38","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T23:09:38","slug":"nativity-and-the-first-amendment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\/","title":{"rendered":"Nativity and the First Amendment"},"content":{"rendered":"Last month a nativity scene appeared in a public park in Fairfield. It was placed there by a state representative who, in response to town officials\u2019 concerns about First Amendment violations, said that she and another person had privately purchased the scene. In an attempt to defuse the situation, the town placed a sign stating that the scene was a private display, and that any and all faiths should feel welcome to add their own display at the same location. Adding a sign that labeled the display as private clarified that the display was not municipally owned or funded. The (more…)<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last month a nativity scene appeared in a public park in Fairfield. It was placed there by a state representative who, in response to town officials\u2019 concerns about First Amendment violations, said that she and another person had privately purchased the scene. In an attempt to defuse the situation, the town placed a sign stating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":227,"featured_media":6016,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-religion-blog"],"yoast_head":"\nNativity and the First Amendment - Maine Chapter - Freedom From Religion Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Maine Chapter - FFRF is a welcoming discussion group of atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, and humanists who support the separation of church and state. We invite you to attend a Zoom meeting and meet new people, make friends, gain awareness of how freethinkers are marginalized, and support each other in their quest for freedom from religion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nativity and the First Amendment - Maine Chapter - Freedom From Religion Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Maine Chapter - FFRF is a welcoming discussion group of atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, and humanists who support the separation of church and state. We invite you to attend a Zoom meeting and meet new people, make friends, gain awareness of how freethinkers are marginalized, and support each other in their quest for freedom from religion.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Maine Chapter - Freedom From Religion Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MaineAtheistFreethinkerHumanistAssociation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-13T23:09:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Nativity-and-the-First-Amendment.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"937\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"626\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ray\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MaineAtheist\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MaineAtheist\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ray\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ray\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7ef8c7075cbf570c6e2bbb3f5018d1f6\"},\"headline\":\"Nativity and the First Amendment\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-13T23:09:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":755,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/Nativity-and-the-First-Amendment.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics & Religion Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\\\/\",\"name\":\"Nativity and the First Amendment - Maine Chapter - Freedom From Religion Foundation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/Nativity-and-the-First-Amendment.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-13T23:09:38+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Maine Chapter - FFRF is a welcoming discussion group of atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, and humanists who support the separation of church and state. We invite you to attend a Zoom meeting and meet new people, make friends, gain awareness of how freethinkers are marginalized, and support each other in their quest for freedom from religion.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/Nativity-and-the-First-Amendment.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/Nativity-and-the-First-Amendment.jpg\",\"width\":937,\"height\":626},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nativity and the First Amendment\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/\",\"name\":\"Maine Chapter - Freedom From Religion Foundation\",\"description\":\"An Activist Group of Atheist Freethinkers, Humanists, Liberals, and other Infidels\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"MAFHA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Maine Atheist Freethinkers and Humanists Association\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/MAFHA-Slide-600x1440-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/MAFHA-Slide-600x1440-1.png\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"Maine Atheist Freethinkers and Humanists Association\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/MaineAtheistFreethinkerHumanistAssociation\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/MaineAtheist\",\"https:\\\/\\\/youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCspwJsnJLmlEoTI4-KD96Xg\",\"https:\\\/\\\/instagram.com\\\/maineatheist\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7ef8c7075cbf570c6e2bbb3f5018d1f6\",\"name\":\"Ray\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/437fadf0b28939ddeb0a4c2189c3537e9c2e7c7af09b638ddcb47b77892f18c2?s=96&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/437fadf0b28939ddeb0a4c2189c3537e9c2e7c7af09b638ddcb47b77892f18c2?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/437fadf0b28939ddeb0a4c2189c3537e9c2e7c7af09b638ddcb47b77892f18c2?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ray\"},\"description\":\"President - Maine Chapter Freedom From Religion Foundation\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ffrfmaine.org\\\/home\\\/author\\\/ray-vensel\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nativity and the First Amendment - Maine Chapter - Freedom From Religion Foundation","description":"The Maine Chapter - FFRF is a welcoming discussion group of atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, and humanists who support the separation of church and state. We invite you to attend a Zoom meeting and meet new people, make friends, gain awareness of how freethinkers are marginalized, and support each other in their quest for freedom from religion.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nativity and the First Amendment - Maine Chapter - Freedom From Religion Foundation","og_description":"The Maine Chapter - FFRF is a welcoming discussion group of atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, and humanists who support the separation of church and state. We invite you to attend a Zoom meeting and meet new people, make friends, gain awareness of how freethinkers are marginalized, and support each other in their quest for freedom from religion.","og_url":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\/","og_site_name":"Maine Chapter - Freedom From Religion Foundation","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MaineAtheistFreethinkerHumanistAssociation","article_published_time":"2025-02-13T23:09:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":937,"height":626,"url":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Nativity-and-the-First-Amendment.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ray","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@MaineAtheist","twitter_site":"@MaineAtheist","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ray","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\/"},"author":{"name":"Ray","@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/7ef8c7075cbf570c6e2bbb3f5018d1f6"},"headline":"Nativity and the First Amendment","datePublished":"2025-02-13T23:09:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\/"},"wordCount":755,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Nativity-and-the-First-Amendment.jpg","articleSection":["Politics & Religion Blog"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\/","url":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\/","name":"Nativity and the First Amendment - Maine Chapter - Freedom From Religion Foundation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Nativity-and-the-First-Amendment.jpg","datePublished":"2025-02-13T23:09:38+00:00","description":"The Maine Chapter - FFRF is a welcoming discussion group of atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, and humanists who support the separation of church and state. We invite you to attend a Zoom meeting and meet new people, make friends, gain awareness of how freethinkers are marginalized, and support each other in their quest for freedom from religion.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Nativity-and-the-First-Amendment.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Nativity-and-the-First-Amendment.jpg","width":937,"height":626},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/nativity-and-the-first-amendment\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nativity and the First Amendment"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/","name":"Maine Chapter - Freedom From Religion Foundation","description":"An Activist Group of Atheist Freethinkers, Humanists, Liberals, and other Infidels","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/#organization"},"alternateName":"MAFHA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/#organization","name":"Maine Atheist Freethinkers and Humanists Association","url":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/MAFHA-Slide-600x1440-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/MAFHA-Slide-600x1440-1.png","width":1440,"height":600,"caption":"Maine Atheist Freethinkers and Humanists Association"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MaineAtheistFreethinkerHumanistAssociation","https:\/\/x.com\/MaineAtheist","https:\/\/youtube.com\/channel\/UCspwJsnJLmlEoTI4-KD96Xg","https:\/\/instagram.com\/maineatheist"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/7ef8c7075cbf570c6e2bbb3f5018d1f6","name":"Ray","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/437fadf0b28939ddeb0a4c2189c3537e9c2e7c7af09b638ddcb47b77892f18c2?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/437fadf0b28939ddeb0a4c2189c3537e9c2e7c7af09b638ddcb47b77892f18c2?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/437fadf0b28939ddeb0a4c2189c3537e9c2e7c7af09b638ddcb47b77892f18c2?s=96&r=g","caption":"Ray"},"description":"President - Maine Chapter Freedom From Religion Foundation","sameAs":["https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org"],"url":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/author\/ray-vensel\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/227"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6015"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6017,"href":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6015\/revisions\/6017"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ffrfmaine.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}