CLAREMONT - A Methodist church has unveiled a Nativity scene depicting Jesus, Mary and Joseph as refugees in cages, likening one of the most well-known images of the Christmas season to photos that have become synonymous with criticism of the Trump administration's border separation policies.

The display, which has stoked debate on the Facebook page of the church's lead pastor, shows classic Nativity figurines of Joseph and Mary in cages on either side of a cage containing the manger of Jesus.

"We see this as, in some ways, the Holy Family standing in for the nameless families," the Rev. Karen Clark Ristine, the lead pastor at Claremont United Methodist Church told the Los Angeles Times. "We've heard of their plight; we've seen how these asylum seekers have been greeted and treated. We wanted the Holy Family to stand in for those nameless people because they also were refugees."

While the Nativity scene shows Jesus shortly after birth and is the foundation of the Christmas holiday, the Claremont depiction appears to be invoking Joseph and Mary's flight to Egypt. Under most interpretations, the infant Jesus and his parents had to escape Jerusalem for fear King Herod would have the baby slaughtered, perceiving the child as a threat to his reign.

Story Date: December 19, 2019