{"id":14219,"date":"2025-12-02T17:57:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T22:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=14219"},"modified":"2025-12-02T17:57:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T22:57:18","slug":"church-sparks-criticism-after-featuring-zip-tied-baby-jesus-in-nativity-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2025\/12\/church-sparks-criticism-after-featuring-zip-tied-baby-jesus-in-nativity-scene.html","title":{"rendered":"Church Sparks Criticism After Featuring Zip-Tied Baby Jesus in Nativity Scene"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lake Street Church of Evanston \/ Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A church in Evanston, Illinois shocked onlookers after featuring a nativity scene that had the baby Jesus zip-tied in an emergency blanket and surrounded by Roman soldiers, who were dressed to look like ICE agents. Lake Street Evanston Church featured the display on its lawn. According to the church<\/a>, the display \u201creimagines the nativity as a scene of forced family separation, drawing direct parallels between the Holy Family\u2019s refugee experience and contemporary immigration detention practices.\u201d \u201cBy placing the Christmas story (Christianity\u2019s central narrative of refuge, sanctuary, and sacred family) within the visual language of immigration enforcement and detention, this work asks viewers to confront the disconnect between professed religious or moral values and immigration policies. The emergency blanket references the actual materials used in detention facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The use of the zip ties, according to the church, was to \u201cdirectly reference the children who were zip-tied by agents during a raid on a Chicago apartment building earlier this year.\u201d Accoring to the church, the raid was conducted against \u201cmostly US citizens\u201d and served as \u201ca stark reminder that enforcement terror does not discriminate by documentation status.\u201d Joseph and Mary are also featured wearing gas masks, a reference to tear gas that ICE agents used against what the church called \u201cpeaceful protesters.\u201d A minister at the church, Michael Woolf, was detained by Illinois State Police<\/a> earlier last month while attending an anti-ICE protest outside the Broadview ICE facility in Chicago, Illinois. Woolf accused the ICE agents of violating his First Amendment rights. \u201cWe were met with force pretty immediately. We wanted to use our First Amendment rights. We wanted to pray with these people,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want the facility to be closed down.\u201d It was the first time Woolf had been arrested. Images of Woolf made their rounds on social media, with some expressing their shock at seeing a minister being cuffed, while others referred to Woolf as a \u201cwoke clown.\u201d<\/p>\n

The church champions itself for its progressive theology and Social media users blasted the display. \u201cDisgusting! What kind of church would do this? Do not use Christ for propaganda!\u201d wrote one user<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m sure the Lake Street \u201cChurch\u201d of Evanston think they did something here,\u201d wrote another user. \u201cProgressives have to bastardize the holiday into some political stunt, they can\u2019t help themselves. It\u2019s pathetic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A church in Evanston, Illinois shocked onlookers after featuring a nativity scene that had the baby Jesus zip-tied in an emergency blanket and surrounded by Roman soldiers, who were dressed to look like ICE agents. Lake Street Evanston Church featured the display on its lawn. According to the church, the display \u201creimagines the nativity as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":14225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nChurch Sparks Criticism After Featuring Zip-Tied Baby Jesus in Nativity Scene<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Church in Illinois sparks outrage with a nativity scene showing Jesus zip-tied and ICE agents nearby, meant to protest immigration policies.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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