The war on Christmas takes new forms every year.
But one small town mayor crossed a line that shocked even her own supporters.
And a woke South Carolina mayor declared war on Christmas with one vile act.
Small-Town Faith Gets Ambushed by City Hall
Kimberly Byrd thought decorating Mullins, South Carolina's new marketplace would be simple — Santa Claus, wreaths, lights, maybe a snowman to give the downtown area that "Hallmark movie" feel.
The Mullins Beautification Committee spent two weeks in late November getting everything ready for the marketplace's first Christmas season, paying for decorations out of their own pockets.
They added one more item to complete the scene: a modest three-by-four-foot Nativity display showing the birth of Jesus Christ.
Then Mayor Miko Pickett sent Byrd a text message that stopped her cold.
Remove the Nativity scene from public property, the mayor demanded, because it violated "separation of church and state."
Some citizens have different beliefs, Pickett argued, and the religious symbol made the city appear "not neutral" on religion. The mayor even posted her reasoning to Facebook on November 26, making the order public and official.
Byrd couldn't believe what she was reading. In 53 years of living in this Bible Belt community where "we have a church on every corner," she'd never heard anything like this happening in Mullins.
The Beautification Committee chair made a decision right there. That Nativity scene wasn't going anywhere.
"Christ is why we celebrate Christmas," Byrd told Fox News Digital.¹ "I really thought she would probably change her mind or come back and say, 'I'm sorry, I made a mistake. Let's have a meeting about this,' but nothing."
Supreme Court Already Settled This Decades Ago
The Supreme Court dealt with this exact issue 40 years ago when ACLU lawyers tried the same stunt in Rhode Island.
In Lynch v. Donnelly, the Court ruled 5-4 that displaying a Nativity scene on public property doesn't violate the Establishment Clause when it's part of a broader holiday display including secular symbols.²
The Mullins display has everything the Court requires — a snowman, Santa Claus, wreaths, lights, and yes, a Nativity scene.
That's a textbook constitutional display under Lynch. The mayor either doesn't know the law or doesn't care. Either way, she's dead wrong.
City Councilman Albert Woodberry hasn't spoken with Pickett about the controversy but made his position crystal clear.
"Yes I'd like for it to stay until the seasons over with," Woodberry told ABC15 News.³ "Kids pass here, people come through to see it so it's okay. It should not be a problem for it staying up."
Byrd received support from multiple council members who understand what the mayor apparently missed — you can't order citizens to hide their faith just because you misunderstand the Constitution.
She drew her line in the sand. If they force removal of the Nativity scene, every other Christmas decoration comes down too.
"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 asked.⁴ "Christmas is not about Santa Claus. It's about the birth of Jesus."
The Pattern Behind the Attacks
This isn't happening in a vacuum.
Left-wing churches in Massachusetts and Illinois are staging "protest Nativities" showing ICE agents arresting the Holy Family — grotesque political stunts that use the birth of Christ to attack Trump's border enforcement.
In Ohio, city officials blocked a private citizen from setting up a live Nativity scene on public property despite allowing other forms of public expression on the same veteran's green.
The attacks on Christian symbols accelerate every December while officials bend over backward accommodating every other religious tradition. You want a menorah in the town square? No problem. Kwanzaa display at city hall? Go right ahead. But put up a Nativity scene celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ in a town where churches sit on every corner? Suddenly government lawyers discover the "separation of church and state" that doesn't exist anywhere in the Constitution.
Becket, a religious liberty law firm, handed Mayor Pickett their 2025 "Ebenezer Award" for being "the most outrageous offender of this year's Christmas and Hanukkah season."⁵ They praised Byrd with their "Tiny Tim Toast" award for standing up to government overreach.
"In the face of increasing government efforts to scrub religion from public life, we should all strive to be like Kimberly Byrd," Mark Rienzi, president of Becket, said.⁶ "Her courage to stand up for the Nativity scene was admirable and patriotic."
Pickett, who was sworn in as Mullins' mayor last November, declined Fox News Digital's request for comment.
She's learning the hard way that a title doesn't give you license to trample the First Amendment rights of citizens who've lived in this community their entire lives.
The Beautification Committee spent their own money decorating the marketplace to draw customers and spread Christmas cheer. They asked nothing from the city except permission to celebrate the birth of Christ the same way this country has celebrated for 250 years. Instead they got a mayor who thinks she can order Christians to hide their faith.
¹ Kristine Parks, "'It's about the birth of Jesus': South Carolina town committee defies mayor, keeps Nativity scene up," Fox News, December 21, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Mark Rienzi, "South Carolina mayor tries to ice town Nativity scene, nabs Becket's highest (dis)honor," Becket, December 18, 2025.
⁶ Ibid.
