W.Va. city's Xmas scene has no Jesus
By TOM BREEN, Associated Press Writer Fri Dec 1, 6:31 PM ET

ST. ALBANS, W.Va. - Christ is missing from Christmas in this small town. The community's holiday display has a manger with shepherds, a guiding star, camels and a palm tree, but no baby Jesus, Mary or Joseph.

The parks superintendent said Jesus was left out because of concerns about the separation of church and state. But Mayor Dick Callaway said it was done for purely technical reasons: "It's not easy to put a light-up representation of a baby in a small manger scene, you know."
In recent years, some communities around the country have dropped nativity scenes after the displays were challenged as unconstitutional. Some communities have tried to head off legal problems by incorporating nonreligious symbols, or symbols of more than one faith, to avoid the appearance of endorsing one religion over another.

David Cunningham, parks superintendent in this town of 11,000, initially insisted St. Albans' display was not even technically a manger scene because he was concerned about possible lawsuits. But the mayor said such anxieties were unwarranted.

"We have a manger scene," the mayor said.

Around the country, only a few skirmishes in what some conservatives have called the "War on Christmas" have been reported this year so far.

Some retailers, including Wal-Mart, have returned to greeting customers with "Merry Christmas" after coming under attack last year for saying "Happy Holidays."

Two weeks ago, the Marine Reserves Toys for Tots program in Los Angeles overcame concerns about accepting a donation of 4,000 talking Jesus dolls that quote Bible verses by promising to make sure the dolls reach Christian children.

Some people are still scratching their heads over what happened in Chicago, where the movie studio behind "The Nativity Story" was dropped as a sponsor of a Christmas festival for fear of offending non-Christians.

In Wheeling, baby Jesus is represented in a manger scene at Olgebay Park's Winter Festival of Lights, which draws visitors from across the country.

"If anything, we get criticized for not having more examples of that type of thing," said J.C. Douglas Dalby, president of the Wheeling Park Commission.

Well St Albans is down by Charleston and they are a little bit different down there !!! I just wanted to a lttle WV defending though !!!!!!! Where I live, my sons wrestled for Parkersburg South and the Patriot wrestlers still have a Bible verse on the back of the team shirts. Most meetings around here are still opened with a prayer and that includes the County Commission and the Fair Board. In nearby Vienna, (for those of you close enough to know - where the mall is) the City of Vienna puts a manager scene (including Jesus, Mary and Joseph) in the lawn of Neale Elementary School......so how is that on the mixing of church and state............... WV is still part of the Bible belt I just do not know what is going on down in St Albans.....

I hadn't really noticed the location. I am glad W VA can stand tall!