Athens, USA - Up to 5,000 people joined a rally on Saturday in support of a Nativity scene in Texas that a Wisconsin-based atheist group wanted to take down.
The atheist Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) had sent a letter to authorities in Henderson County, Texas, saying that a local resident had complained and that the Nativity should be removed from the courthouse lawn in Athens.
Nathan Lorick, the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Malakoff and one of the organizers of Saturday’s rally in Athens, said: 'We are humbled at the turnout of the crowd.'
'We believe that God led us to do this and so we knew he was up to something great,” he told Fox News & Commentary.
'This message is resonating in the hearts of people all over the country. This was a real statement to the nation that Christians are tired of the persecution and suppression.'
The FFRF said that for non-Christians, the Nativity sent a message of intimidation and exclusion.
But their outcry in turn lead to anger through Texas.
The Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sent out a 'don't mess with texas' message and said he would defend the county if the atheists sued.
Saturday’s rally passed without incident and included speeches, patriotic music, Christmas carols and prayers.
The FFRF sent a banner to the court house that it wanted displayed, with a very different message than the birth of Christ.
The group's banner read 'At this season of the Winter Solstice, let reason prevail.'
'There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but a myth & superstition that hardens hearts & enslaves minds,' it finished.
A mystery man put the sign up on Wednesday on a tree next to the nativity scene in Athens, Texas, about 70 miles south east of Dallas, but it was removed shortly by sheriff's deputies about 10 minutes later.
Though Judge Richard Sanders may have ordered its removal because of the missing forms and compliance with city procedures, the state's Attorney General is taking a much more philosophical stance.
'I want the Freedom From Religion Foundation to know that our office has a history of defending religious displays in this state,' Mr Abbott told a local Fox News affiliate.
Mr Abbott offered to help the city if they end up in a legal battle over the issue, though there are no signs that it will reach that point.
The argument against the nativity scene is that it promotes a social belief that may make those non-believers uncomfortable.
'Anybody walking by that is going to say, "Hmmm. This is a Christian government building. I’m not welcome here if I’m not Christian,"' said FFRF co-founder Annie Laurie Gaylor.
'It sends a message of intimidation and exclusion to non-Christians and non-believers this time of year,' she said.
A number of religious leaders from neighboring towns as well as their congregations are planning to show their today at a noon rally with hundreds of tentative attendees on Facebook.
Since it became popular and often times necessary to be politically correct, the holiday season has brought the now-token freedom of religion arguments,
So far this year, there have been incidents elsewhere in the U.S.
The Rhode Island governor getting in trouble for using the term Holiday Tree instead of Christmas Tree, and atheist groups being upset for being allotted a smaller amount of space at a Santa Monica, California, Christmas display.