Like Christmases Past

• Share

Nativity scenes bring a harsh cacophony of jingle bells and legal jangles

The Christmas lights on the sturdy, 30-ft. Colorado blue spruce blinked on at precisely 5:52 last Thursday evening, revealing a dazzling pattern of poinsettias that sparkled cheerfully against the capital's skyline. A large screen showed Ronald and Nancy Reagan presiding over the annual lighting ceremony of the national Christmas tree from the South Portico of the White House, 500 yards away. The President did what the heads of many U.S. families do at Christmas observances: reflect on the meaning of the celebration, offer hope for the less fortunate and remember those who must spend this most personal of holidays away from home. "For many of us, Christmas is a deeply holy day," Reagan told 20,000 people gathered in springlike 58° weather. "For others, Christmas marks the birth of a good, great man ... Either way, the message remains the guiding star of our endeavors."

Washington's official celebration, echoed in festivals of light and countless other wassailings across the nation, was called the Christmas Pageant of Peace. Held on the Ellipse, a 52-acre circular park between the White House and the Washington Monument, it included not only the elaborately decorated national Christmas tree but also 56 smaller ones representing the states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. In addition, the National Zoo installed nine live reindeer near by, and each day a traditional yule log is set ablaze. That feature proved less than popular during last Thursday's balmy weather. "That's what happens when you have a weatherman for Santa Claus," cracked red-suited TV Forecaster Willard Scott, the master of ceremonies.

The final element in this year's pageant was a crèche, an assemblage of near life-size figures around a manger scene representing Christ's birth. The display included painted representations of Joseph and Mary, the gift-bearing Magi, two angels and assorted animals—20 pieces in all. It would have been wholly unremarkable, similar to thousands of others, except for one thing: this particular Nativity scene was reappearing in the festival after an enforced and highly controversial absence of eleven years, the hostage in a legal dispute involving the constitutional separation of church and state.

Thanks to a Supreme Court decision earlier in the year, Nativity scenes this season also adorn the public parks and buildings of some municipalities that had ceased putting them up while the issue was in dispute. But the Supreme Court's ruling, permitting the city of Pawtucket, R.I., to erect a creche, failed to settle the matter. Crèche critics, insisting that many of the displays still represent unlawful government sponsorship of church activity, are seeking to severely limit the court's ruling. As a result, the jingle bells of the season once again were interrupted by the jangle of legal discord. Items: