5,000 Christians Attend Rally to Support Nativity at Texas Courthouse

Sun, Dec. 18 2011
By Napp Nazworth

An estimated 5,000 people showed up for a rally Saturday in Athens, Texas, to support a Nativity display in opposition to an atheist group that had requested the county remove the display.

Nathan Lorick, pastor of First Baptist Church in Malakoff, one of four pastors that helped organize the rally, said in a Sunday interview with The Christian Post that they had hoped that 2,000 or 2,500 would show up. They printed 3,000 flyers for the event, but came up 2,000 short.

“We hoped this would be a statement across the nation that would resonate in the hearts of people, that they would know it's OK to stand up for the faith,” Lorick said, “and maybe that this would spark a movement across the nation and people would rise up in every small town, every metro city and contend for the faith.”

The controversy began when Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) sent a Dec. 1 letter to the county government asking that the Nativity display be removed. the rest