An Iowa church added a new element to its nativity scene this year after complaints from an atheist about the town nativity scene last year. An atheist named Justin Scott complained about the city of Toledo’s nativity scene last year.
This prompted the city to temporarily remove its display before adding Santa and his reindeer to comply with constitutional concerns last winter. This fall, the Satanic Temple of Iowa targeted Toledo with a “bible” reading on the courthouse lawn. The group read “Paradise Lost.”
After the recent desire of atheists to be “included,” Solid Rock Bible Church added a depiction of King Herod to its nativity scene this year and labeled him as an atheist. Pastor Adam Todd said Herod is the “perfect” representation of an atheist.
“Herod is the perfect representation of atheists and he’s a very real part of the Christmas account in Scripture,” Todd said. “Herod wanted to destroy Christ. Herod pretended to be sincere to the wise men but in his heart his true intentions were just to kill the Savior. Many times it seems to me that atheists try to appear genuine, as if they want to just practice religious freedom, when in reality they have very ulterior motives, just like Herod. Herod acted like he was genuine, but his only real goal was to destroy Christ. I don’t think it is a coincidence that the atheists go where the Christians are and seek to destroy Christ, just like Herod did so many years ago.”
Todd added that every nativity scene should include Herod so Christians are reminded there is an “enemy” whose real goal is to “kill and destroy Christ.”
According to an article from CBS2Iowa, Scott said comparing an atheist to an “evil bloodthirsty killer” is “disgusting.”
“It’s gross, and given how divided our country is right now, it’s the last thing we need,” he reportedly said. “On one side, this is childish and stupid, but on the other side, it just falls in line with a series of historical demonization of atheists.”
Unlike the city’s nativity scene, the church’s display is private. But that didn’t deter Scott from complaining about the inclusion of Herod to the media.
Todd told The Iowa Standard the church has displayed a nativity scene since 2012 and places a “high value” on nativity scenes.
“It displays the true reason for Christmas — the birth of Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, the Messiah,” he said. “It is the message that should be at the forefront of Christmas in every church’s and Christian’s heart. It glorifies, and glorifying God should be the goal of every church and of every Christian.”
Atheists decided to exit their “big cities” and seek out a little town like Toledo and immediately threaten lawsuits showing their “true intentions,” Todd said.
“That nativity has been at that location for over 30 years,” he said of the city’s display. “I was disappointed in the city’s immediate reaction to take down their nativity and then to compromise it based on one complaint from an out-of-town activist.”
After reflection, however, Todd said he realized atheists are represented in the story of Christ’s birth.
“Herod was the perfect representative for atheists,” he said. “They see the city’s nativity, then act like they only care about their freedom to worship, but really they only want to demean or destroy what the nativity represents, which is at the heart of Christianity, and that is: Jesus Christ was born to a virgin to live a sinless life to die a sacrificial death so that He might grant us salvation. He is the King of Kings. I think that offends atheists today just as much as it offended Herod back then.”
Atheists, he added, seek out Christians to “antagonize and demean” the beliefs of Christians.
“That feeling was reinforced this summer when Tama/Toledo was targeted by the Satanic Temple of Iowa merely because we read the Bible every summer,” Todd said. “I don’t feel they are standing up for what they believe in, they merely chase Christians around to devalue and demean what we believe in, and that is why Herod is such a great representative of atheists.”
As for the criticism of the church’s display, Todd said it is the “height of hypocrisy” for atheists to take offense to it considering it is on private property.
“I didn’t expect them to get bent out of shape like they have,” he said. “They asked to be represented and only when they forced us to consider the matter did we realize that Herod is a very real part of the nativity, even today, which is evidenced by their actions and efforts to go out of their way to destroy a rural town’s nativity.”
Todd isn’t backing down from the church’s addition of Herod to the nativity scene.
“We display Herod as a reminder to Christians that there will always be Herods out to destroy Christ,” Todd said. “We need always be vigilant and aware of these spiritual attacks.”
This is awesome. Kudos to Pastor Todd and his church!