It wouldn't be December if some Leftist politician somewhere weren't waging a war on Christmas. In South Carolina, Miko Pickett, the mayor of Mullins, ordered the city to remove a public Nativity scene, "citing concerns about residents of other faiths and beliefs in the community."
Thankfully, the town council defied Pickett's order.
South Carolina town committee keeps Nativity scene up in defiance of mayor: ‘Christmas is not about Santa’ https://t.co/tsaEaTGGx8 pic.twitter.com/0anjtLKWzj
— New York Post (@nypost) December 21, 2025
A small South Carolina town committee refused to remove a Nativity scene from a market parking lot after the mayor ordered it taken down from public property.
Around Thanksgiving, Kimberly Byrd, head of the Mullins Beautification Committee in Mullins, South Carolina, said her small team decided to decorate the city’s new marketplace area for its first Christmas season “like a Hallmark movie,” hoping to draw more customers to the downtown area.
The group spent about two weeks placing decorations they paid for out of their own pockets, including a snowman, wreaths, lights, Santa Claus and a small 3-by-4-foot Nativity scene. Byrd said she later received a text from Mayor Miko Pickett asking her to remove the Nativity scene, citing concerns about residents of other faiths and beliefs in the community.
...
Byrd said she received support from some city council members to keep the display in place and decided to take a stand by vowing to keep the Nativity scene where it was.
"Our small town, we have a church on every corner," Byrd told the media. "It's a faith-based community in the Bible Belt. I've been here 53 years of my life and never heard of anything like this happening here."
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In a Facebook post, Pickett said she was worried about the "separation of church and state" because the Nativity was set up in a public parking area.
I would like to clarify my reported comment about the nativity scene. I requested that the nativity scene be removed solely from the PUBLIC parking area. The reason for this is the separation of Church and State applies to muncipalities as well, regarding religous symbols on public property and parks.
We are a community composed of various ethnicities and religious beliefs. Both my family and I are deeply rooted in our own beliefs.
I want to emphasize that I have never stated that nativity scenes should be prohibited in Mullins.
In a brief perusal of the Facebook comment section, no one was buying Pickett's reasoning.
"According to the 1984 Supreme Court ruling in Lynch v Donnelly, cities may display a nativity scene on public property if it is part of a broader holiday display," wrote one user.
"Did the mayor say if she had received any complaints, or is this just her 'thing'?" asked another.
"In a community as diverse as ours, acknowledging the origins of Christmas doesn’t exclude anyone—it simply honors the reason the season exists at all," wrote one woman.
Byrd said she would remove all Christmas decorations if the city ultimately removed the Nativity scene.
"How are we supposed to explain to our kids that we have to hide our religion, hide our beliefs, and hide what Christmas is about?” Byrd said. “Christmas is not about Santa Claus. It’s about the birth of Jesus.”
The Becket Fund also awarded Pickett its Ebenezer Award for being a Scrooge.
Bah humbug! Becket has bestowed the Ebenezer Award on Mayor Miko Pickett of Mullins, South Carolina, after she tried to ice a town Nativity scene—earning her Becket’s highest (dis)honor. Happily, this Christmas story also has a hero: Kimberly Byrd, the Mullins Beautification… pic.twitter.com/rcKAfKfC5n
— BECKET (@becketfund) December 18, 2025
They also gave Byrd their Tiny Tim Toast for standing up for religious liberty.
Democrats always do this. They demand we celebrate "inclusivity" and "diversity," but then go out of their way to exclude Christians at every possible turn. They'll allow the public expression of other religious holidays—which is fine—and tout their tolerance while not caring whether those displays offend others. But when the second Christmas or Easter is involved, we have to hide the religious aspect of the holidays because of the "diversity" of the community.
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