A Warren man whose family has placed a nativity scene on the Mound Road median
for the past 63 years has filed a federal lawsuit against the Macomb County Road Commission for refusing him permission this year.
John Satawa alleges the road commission violated his Constitutional rights when a policy decision was made denying him a permit for the nativity scene because it "displays a religious message," according to the suit.
According to the lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Detroit, County Highway Engineer Robert Hoepfner on March 9 issued a formal denial of a permit to erect the display on the Mound Road median near Chicago Road.
Allowing the scene on a public median would violate the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits governments from endorsing a particular religion, according to Hoepfner's letter.
Satawa, who could not be reached for comment Monday evening, said in the lawsuit the nativity scene was designed by his late father in 1945 for nearby St. Anne's Parish but the statues were too large for the inside of the church.
Permission to place the display depicting the birth of Jesus Christ on Mound was granted in 1945 by Jack Eckstein, the president of the village of Warren, the suit states.
Satawa has sought the assistance of Thomas More Law Center, which was founded by Tom Monaghan, the founder of Domino's Pizza, and former Oakland County Prosecutor Richard Thompson.
On its Web site, the center claims the road commission has violated Satawa's First Amendment rights by showing a "hostility" of the Christian religion, and the Fourteenth Amendment rights by forbidding him expression of a private message in a public forum based on the content of his speech.
And they are absolutely correct. What happened to the free expression of religion shall not be infringed? Maybe some of these people can look up in the history books and get a sense of what the Founding Fathers that wrote the 1st Amendment thought of it via their own actions. As a matter of fact, the U.S. Capitol building was specifically designed to hold church services on Sundays (
WallBuilders - Issues and Articles - Church in the U.S. Capitol ) and was used for that very purpose into the 20th century. Even Thomas Jefferson, whom secular progressives love to take out of context, approved wholeheartedly of this use. Back in those days, federal money was used specifically to print Bibles as well, and the federal government promoted Christianity. They didn't "establish" it, they just promoted it. After all, the pilgrims sailed here for that reason, no? It's worthy to note also that Thomas Jefferson himself made federal money available for the building of churches and the printing of Bibles. Actions speak louder than words. Thus, schoolchildren do not learn of such history in indoctrination centers these days.
