Jesus is the reason for the Season, as they say, but some people might be abusing the character a little too insensitively. In the downtown area of Cleveland, Ohio, a nativity set was on display for the holidays, with Mary, Joseph, and all, but one thing was bizarrely off: Baby Jesus was chained to the manger. Now, you probably needn’t read Bible lore to know that Jesus’ earthly parents didn’t shackle him to the feeding trough he was lying in, but Reddit believes there’s good reason this nativity is like this.
“It’s awful but people will steal things,” noted one commenter; in other words, the chains are for Baby Jesus’ safety. Another person recalled how they went on a nightly walk earlier and saw some kids playing football in the street. It wasn’t until they heard the children yelling, “Pass Baby Jesus!” that they realized a stolen nativity doll was being used as a football. And, as one might have guessed, politics and the follies of the current administration were brought in as jokes.
“Jesus is from a no travel country. He’s chained up so ICE can’t kidnap him,” laughed one Redditor. “I mean, Jesus is brown so they were probably afraid ICE was going to take him,” remarked another. A few believed that the chains were intentionally designed to draw attention to ICE’s deportation arrests. For instance, one person pointed out how a church near them in Evanston, Illinois, had zip-tied a doll of Baby Jesus and wrapped him in a silver emergency blanket instead of swaddling clothes.
Regardless of whether the Jesus doll in Cleveland was chained up to prevent theft or call out ICE, it does shine a light on a rather bleak situation in today’s society.
