Full opinion text
CUMMINGS, Circuit Judge. The Ottawa Jaycees (“Jaycees”) appeal from the district court’s final judgment prohibiting them and the defendant City of Ottawa, Illinois, from mounting in a public park their annual yuletide display of sixteen large paintings depicting various events in the life of Jesus Christ. 726 F.Supp. 713. Finding an absence of any issue of material fact, Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986), the district court entered summary judgment in favor of plaintiff Jane Doe. The Jaycees, who were the intervenor-defendant in the original action, then sought relief from this Court, claiming that the display of paintings did not represent governmental endorsement of religion in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. In addition, they asserted an infringement of their own constitutionally protected right of freedom of expression under the First Amendment. We disagree with the Jaycees. The City encouraged, authorized and endorsed the Jaycees’ display of these paintings in a public park, thus offending the core of the Establishment Clause’s essential prohibition of state endorsement of religion. Because the City wished to promote the religious message of the paintings by permitting their annual display in Washington Park, we affirm the judgment below. I. BACKGROUND Before relating the specific facts concerning the Jaycees’ display, we must establish the proper scope and perspective of our review of a grant of summary judgment. This Court’s review is, of course, de novo, meaning that we look at the record in the case anew from the same standpoint as the trial judge. On review of an entry of summary judgment, we must determine that “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). In conducting this inquiry to determine whether material facts are at issue, “we must review the record and all inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion.” Local 1545, United Mine Workers v. Inland Steel Coal Co., 876 F.2d 1288, 1292 (7th Cir.1989), citing United States v. Diebold, Inc., 369 U.S. 654, 655, 82 S.Ct. 993, 994, 8 L.Ed.2d 176 (1962). A. Facts The story of the display of the sixteen large paintings depicting major events in the life of Jesus Christ began in 1956. The Ottawa Retail Merchants’ Association, offended by the commercialism overtaking the Christmas holiday, endeavored to “put Christ back into Christmas.” The Association’s method of choice was to commission sixteen large paintings of Jesus’ life for display in Washington Park (“Park”), a city park located on the edge of Ottawa’s business district near the center of town. A typical small-town park, the Park occupies an open city block, covered with grass and a few trees. The Park has provided the location for numerous one-time events, including a campaign appearance by George Bush during the 1988 Presidential campaign, and other activities, ranging from a concert for world peace to an all-church concert and a concert for veterans of the Vietnam War. The City has records of activities taking place in the Park from June 1982-September 1988. (Affidavit of Charles Singer, Ottawa City Clerk, Defendant’s Exhibit No. 3.) Aside from these one-time events, the only events which appear to have occurred annually in the Park for any extended period of time are a flea market and the display of paintings at issue in this case. In most years since' 1956, during the Christmas season in Ottawa, a passer-by traveling on LaSalle Street along the western edge of the Park would see the following: 16 paintings, each measuring 8 feet 8 inches in height, displayed in two lines that form a “V” spanning most of the Park’s west side. No matter whether it was day or night, the paintings were clearly visible at all times, being illuminated at night by street lights. The paintings together tell the story of the life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as told in the four gospels of the New Testament, the Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The scene depicted in each painting can be traced to at least one of these books, which together comprise the central teachings of Christianity. Only three of the 16 paintings relate specifically to the religious holiday of Christmas, celebrating Jesus’ birth. These canvases depict the infant Jesus in the manger (Luke 2:7), the announcement of the birth of Jesus being received by the shepherds in the field (Luke 2:8-20), and the three wise men traveling to Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus (Matthew 2:1-12). This and the description of the other paintings’ content is based primarily upon the Declaration of Graydon F. Snyder, Dean of Chicago Theological Seminary and Professor of New Testament, filed in support of plaintiff's motion for summary judgment (Plaintiff’s App. 18). The Jaycees do not dispute the content of the paintings, except to claim that all of the paintings relate to Christmas, because the birth of Jesus is inseparable from the rest of his life. The remaining thirteen paintings chronicle subsequent events of significance in Jesus’ life. In chronological order, painting number four illustrates the flight of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15). In the fifth painting, Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist. Painting number six shows Jesus calling two of his disciples, the “fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11; and John 1:35-42.) The seventh painting recalls the “stilling of the storm,” in which Jesus and his disciples were in a boat on the lake near Gen-nesaret in Galilee and a great storm arose. Afraid, the disciples questioned their safety, but Jesus calmed the winds and stilled the storm. (Matthew 8:18, 23-27; Mark 4:37-41; and Luke 8:22-25.) In the eighth picture, Jesus performs the miracle of the loaves and fishes. The painting recounts the incident where Jesus fed 5,000 people with only five loaves and two fishes. (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; and John 6:1-13.) The ninth picture in the display shows Jesus teaching. The picture contains elements of both the Sermon on the Mount (found in Matthew 5:1-7:29) and the story of Jesus teaching young children. The Sermon on the Mount sets forth what are known as the “Beatitudes,” such as: “Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5.) The other part of the painting portrays Jesus teaching several small children. In the tenth picture, the stone covering the empty tomb of Lazarus is rolled away, after Jesus recalled Lazarus, a close friend of Jesus, from the dead. (John 11:38-44.) Jesus enters Jerusalem on what has now become known as Palm Sunday in the eleventh picture. (Matthew 21:1-9; Mark 11:1— 10; and Luke 19:28-38.) Palm Sunday falls one week before Easter Sunday and is an important date in the “Passion Narrative,” the story of Jesus’ death. The next event in the crucifixion story, illustrated in the twelfth painting, is the Last Supper. (Matthew 26:17-29; Mark 14:12-25; Luke 22:7-20; and 1 Corinthians 11:23-27.) At the Last Supper, Jesus celebrated Passover, the Jewish holiday commemorating the flight of the Jews from Egypt under the leadership of Moses. The display’s thirteenth canvas depicts Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; and Luke 22:40-46.) Just before his crucifixion, Jesus went to the Garden to contemplate his impending crucifixion and to pray to God. Next, in the fourteenth painting, the Romans try Jesus, accusing him falsely of heresy and treason. (Matthew 27:11-26; Mark 15:1-15; Luke 23:2-25; and John 18:28-19:16.) The fifteenth scene depicts Jesus' crucifixion. (Matthew 27:27-54; Mark 15:16-41; Luke 23:11-49; and John 19:16-37.) This scene shows Jesus’ death, before he rose from the dead on Easter morning. Finally, the sixteenth painting illustrates a scene that takes place after Jesus’ resurrection, the “Emmaus Story.” (Luke 24:13-35.) In this scene, the resurrected Jesus is recognized by two of his followers, despondent over his death. Jesus explains to them that he, the Messiah, had to suffer, die and be raised again. To sum up, out of the sixteen paintings in the display, only three have anything to do with Christmas, while the final seven tell the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection, commemorated by Christians during Lent and on Easter. The middle six paintings depict other important events and miracles in the life of Jesus, none of which relates specifically to either Christmas, Lent or Easter. These paintings were first erected and displayed in 1956, and taken down and stored by the City of Ottawa during every Christmas season through 1969. During the 1970s, newspaper accounts indicate that the City refrained from showing the paintings due to public criticism of the display. In 1980, an Ottawa newspaper reported that a City official had discovered the paintings in a municipal storage area. The newspaper article quoted the Mayor of Ottawa at the time as saying he hoped to find a private group willing to display the paintings and promising further that “the City will pay the electrical bills for illuminating the paintings and help in any way we can, except financially, if a group wants to display them again.” (Ottawa Daily Times, Nov. 21, 1980, Plaintiff’s Exhibit No. 28.) That same month the Ottawa Jaycees requested and received permission from the City to become the official “caretakers” of the paintings. By their own account the Jaycees hoped that the display would “enhance the Christmas spirit in the community of Ottawa” and would reveal “[the] true meaning of Christmas * * * thereby promoting faith in God.” (Ottawa Jaycees’ Chairman’s Planning Guide, Plaintiff’s Exhibit No. 44.) The City assisted in the reintroduction of the display by providing some of the labor necessary to erect, the paintings again in the Park. When the paintings were redisplayed in the Park, they remained on display for varying periods of time. According to the defendants’ approximations, from 1980 to 1988, the periods of display were as follows: Erected Dismantled Year (Approximate Date) (Approximate Date) 1988 November 27, 1988 No later than January 1, 1989 1987 November 29, 1987 January 24 to 30, 1988 1986 November 15, 1986 Commenced January 1987 (removed five Paintings in January 1987 but remaining Paintings frozen); completed removal of remaining Paintings February 21, 1987 1985 December 1, 1985 February 2, 1986 1984 December 2, 1984 February 10, 1985 1983 December 3, 1983 March 4, 1984 1982 December 4, 1982 January 19 or 21, 1983 1981 December 5, 1981 January 10, 1982 1980 December 8, 1980 January 14, 1981 (R. 108, Exhibit 8 at 5.) The City’s involvement with the display did not cease in 1980. In 1986, Richard Rohrer, then a resident and taxpayer of Ottawa and the initial plaintiff in this suit, protested the display of the paintings, stating that he found the display extremely offensive. He claimed also that the presence of the display had deprived him of the use and enjoyment of the Park. In response to his complaint, the City Council reviewed the history of the display, calling it “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” and acknowledging that it portrays the central story of Christianity. (City Council Resolution, Dec. 2, 1986, Plaintiff’s App. 33.) Furthermore, the Council made a specific finding that the paintings “are an integral part of the seasonal decorations epitomizing Ghristmas” displayed in Washington Park and other locations in Ottawa and resolved: After due consideration and reflection upon the complaint raised concerning the pictures in Washington Park, that this Council endorse the activities- of the Ottawa Jaycees in maintaining, erecting, dismantling and storing said pictures and incorporating them in the overall Christmas display that annually graces the downtown area of the City. Id. (emphasis supplied). At the same meeting the Council also granted the Jaycees permission to erect permanent structural support for the paintings in the form of thirty-two, concrete-filled holes, each containing a metal sleeve to support one side of each painting. After passing the Resolution, the City granted its approval of permanent foundations for the paintings, and the City Engineer and City Commissioner of Public Improvement discussed the precise placement and details of the holes containing the metal sleeves, each measuring 30 inches in length, with representatives of the Jaycees at a meeting in the Park. The Jaycees altered the display by replacing the former municipal holes for the paintings in order to widen the angle of the “V” so that “passing cars can see the paintings sooner as they are coming down the road.” The foundations to date have served no other purpose than to provide structural support for “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” although it is the Jaycees’ contention that other displays, even one advocating Satanic worship, may freely be mounted on the same foundations. (Deposition of George D. Small, Mayor of Ottawa, Defendant’s Exhibit No. 9 at 86.) When the paintings are not on display, the holes and sleeves remain covered. The 1986 decision by the Council to continue permitting the display did not end the controversy. Rohrer filed suit on August 1, 1988. Initially upon receipt of the suit, Mayor Small reiterated the City’s position in support of the display: “ ‘As far as we (the City) know, we are going to proceed and put the pictures back in the park.’ ” (Suit filed over park paintings, Ottawa Daily Times, Aug. 16, 1988, Plaintiff’s Exhibit No. 53.) In the same article, the Mayor commented further on Rohrer’s suit: ‘This is what I guess happens in a free country. If he doesn’t like the paintings, then he can drive around them. * * * Maybe he’s looking for a public reaction, but I don’t want him crying when the public puts the heat on him.’ Id. Finally, Mayor Small called for a public response so that the City could decide whether to spend tax dollars to defend the suit. He suggested that the City might initiate a fund drive to raise money “to keep the paintings in the park.” Id. However, several months later, on the advice of the City Attorney, John Hayner, the City changed its position. When the Jaycees’ request to display the paintings was presented to the Council at its October 18 meeting, the following occurred: Mayor Small presented request for erection of paintings in Washington Park. Moved by Mayor Small that this Council deny permission for the erection of the 16 paintings of the life of Christ in Washington Park during the Christmas season of 1989. Ayes: [5] Nays: None. Motion carried. Jim Bruehler, President of the Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce, presented costs and specifications for a “Festival of Lights” in Washington Park as an alternative. (Minutes of Regular meeting of City Council, Oct. 18, 1988, Plaintiff’s Exhibit No. 54.) After the Council’s vote preventing the Jaycees from displaying the paintings, private businesses offered to have the paintings displayed on their property. The Jaycees tentatively concluded an agreement with the First National Bank of Ottawa, located across from City Hall. The Ottawa Daily Times quoted Mayor Small’s reaction to the proposed new home for the paintings: “It’s an honor to have the pictures across the street from City Hall. * * * Maybe some day they’ll be back in Washington Park where they belong.” (Paintings Get Home, Ottawa Daily Times, Oct. 21, 1988, Plaintiff’s Exhibit No. 55.) When it appeared that the City decided not to fight Rohrer’s suit, the Council convened a special meeting on Oct. 28, 1988, “for the purpose of discussing the erection of the Life of Christ paintings in Washington Park lawsuit.” (Minutes of Special Meeting, Oct. 28, 1988, Plaintiff’s Exhibit No. 56.) According to the Council minutes, the following series of events transpired: George Hupp, Jr. appeared and introduced Mr. Robert Skolrood National Legal Foundations [sic] representative concerning the defense of the lawsuit. Robert Skolrood discussed the excellent fact pattern involving religious displays on public streets and parks applying to the defense of the lawsuit. He stated his organization will commit $100,000.00 to this case and will file an intervening petition on behalf of the Jaycees if the City continues the defense of the lawsuit. -Mayor Small presented motion to recess into executive session. * * * Council recessed at 8:15 A.M. Council reconvened at 8:29 A.M. City Attorney John Hayner reiterated his recommendation to the Council from pri- or meetings stating finances, no reasonable chance of winning and alternate sights [sic ] were the major factors in his recommendation. * # ik * * * Moved by Mayor Small that the motion of October 18, 1988 prohibiting the Ottawa Jaycees from erecting the 16 paintings of the life of Christ in Washington Park for the 1988-1989 Christmas Season be and hereby is rescinded. * J¡C # $ $ * Ayes: [5] Nays: None: Motion carried. Id. That same season, after deciding to permit the Jaycees to display the paintings, the City affixed decorations in the vicinity of the paintings and throughout the town. The City installed a 15-foot tall lighted snowman in the Park and “trimmed the town” by stringing lights, bows, snowflakes and giant candles on the trees in the Park and around town. The City dubbed this latter seasonal display “The Festival of Lights.” The giant snowman sometimes has company, for the City also added a Santa Claus House, which apparently alternates between the Park and the firehouse. The City posted no disclaimer of its own next to the paintings. However, the Jaycees installed a small sign next to the display. Measuring only 2072 inches by 21 Vi inches, the sign read, in lettering l-Vie inches high: “THIS DISPLAY HAS BEEN ERECTED AND MAINTAINED SOLELY BY THE OTTAWA JAYCEES, A PRIVATE ORGANIZATION, WITHOUT THE USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS.” The sign can be seen but not read from LaSalle Street, the street abutting the Park on the side where the paintings are displayed. In our above review of the facts, we have drawn all reasonable inferences in a light most favorable to the non-moving party to determine whether there is any genuine issue of material fact requiring further fact-finding. The existence of disputed facts does not prevent this Court from entering summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff. This Court recognizes that contested factual issues such as the duration of the display divide the parties. However, as we have stated before: “The existence of a factual dispute does not necessarily preclude summary judgment unless ‘the disputed fact is outcome determinative under the governing la\y.’ ” Korf v. Ball State Univ., 726 F.2d 1222 (7th Cir.1984), citing Egger v. Phillips, 710 F.2d 292, 296 (7th Cir.1983), certiorari denied, 464 U.S. 918, 104 S.Ct. 284, 78 L.Ed.2d 262. The point is simply that summary judgment provides courts with a means of resolving litigation without trial when there are no genuine factual issues “that properly can be resolved only by a finder of fact because they may reasonably be resolved in favor of either party.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) (“Where the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the nonmoving party, there is no ‘genuine issue for trial.’ ”); Samuels v. Wilder, 871 F.2d 1346, 1349 (7th Cir.1989) (“Merely alleging a factual dispute cannot defeat the summary judgment motion.”); Beard v. Whitley County REMC, 840 F.2d 405 (7th Cir.1988) (“The court should neither ‘look the other way’ to ignore genuine issues of material fact, nor ‘strain to find material fact issues where there are none.’ ”), quoting Secretary of Labor, United States Dep’t of Labor v. Lauritzen, 835 F.2d 1529, 1534 (7th Cir.1987) (“[A] minor factual dispute does not preclude summary judgment.”), certiorari denied, Lauritzen v. McLaughlin, 488 U.S. 898, 109 S.Ct. 243, 102 L.Ed.2d 232 (1988). In this case the factual issues contested by the parties do not rise to the level of genuine material issues precluding the entry of summary judgment in this case. This Court has recognized repeatedly that disputes over the constitutionality of religious displays, while comprising factual disputes, turn ultimately on questions of law. Harris v. City of Zion, 927 F.2d 1401, 1402 n. 1 (7th Cir.1991); Mather v. Village of Mundelein, 864 F.2d 1291, 1292 (7th Cir.1989). In American Jewish Congress v. City of Chicago, 827 F.2d 120, 123 (7th Cir.1987), we explicitly acknowledged that the opposing parties contested factual issues relating to the display of a creche in City Hall. However, disputes over the constitutionality of a religious display involve “conclusions of law rather than facts.” Id. The existence of factual disputes does not preclude summary judgment, because “none [of the disputes] raises a material issue that would require a remand for trial.” Id. The obligation imposed by Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to draw factual inferences in a light most favorable to the non-moving party applies only to this Court’s review of genuine material facts. In this case, no genuine issues of material fact prevent the entry of summary judgment. Because the undisputed facts provide an adequate basis on which this Court may predicate its legal conclusion, further fact-finding is unnecessary. Bender v. Williamsport School Dist., 741 F.2d at 542 n. 3. This is evidenced further by the Jaycees’ own prayer for relief. The Jaycees filed their own cross-motion for summary judgment asking this Court to reverse the lower court and enter summary judgment in favor of the defendants. II. DISCUSSION A. The Purposes of the Establishment Clause Of late, Establishment Clause inquiries by courts have revolved around detailed inquiries into the specific facts surrounding each challenged practice. As a result, the decision as to whether a religious display passes constitutional muster on its facts overshadows the broader principles for which the Establishment Clause stands— namely, that courts must afford protection from “three main evils * * * sponsorship, financial support, and active involvement of the sovereign in religious activity.” Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602, 612, 91 S.Ct. 2105, 2111, 29 L.Ed.2d 745 (1971), quoting Walz v. Tax Comm’n, 397 U.S. 664, 668, 90 S.Ct. 1409, 1411, 25 L.Ed.2d 697 (1970). Thus in case after case, typically involving yuletide displays of a Nativity scene or other religious symbols, the Supreme Court and lower courts have alternatively upheld or struck down individual displays, relying upon an application of the Supreme Court test, first enunciated in Lemon, 403 U.S. at 602, 91 S.Ct. at 2105, clarified by Justice O’Connor in several concurring opinions and finally adopted by two Justices in County of Allegheny v. ACLU, 492 U.S. 573, 109 S.Ct. 3086, 106 L.Ed.2d 472 (1989) (créche displayed on Grand Staircase of County Courthouse unconstitutional; Chanukah menorah, displayed alongside large Christmas tree and sign saluting liberty constitutional). See also Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 1355, 79 L.Ed.2d 604 (1984) (creche that was part of an overall holiday display constitutional); American Jewish Congress, 827 F.2d at 120 (créche displayed in lobby of city hall unconstitutional); Mather, 864 F.2d at 1291 (créche displayed alongside many other secular symbols constitutional); Congregation Lubavitch v. City of Cincinnati, 923 F.2d 458 (6th Cir.1991) (City’s prayer for injunction to ban menorah from public forum unlikely to succeed on merits); Smith v. County of Albemarle, 895 F.2d 953 (4th Cir.1990) (display of créche by local Jaycees on public lawn in front of county office building unconstitutional), certiorari denied, — U.S. -, 111 S.Ct. 74, 112 L.Ed.2d 48 (1990); Americans United for Separation of Church and State v. City of Grand Rapids, 922 F.2d 303, 310 (6th Cir.1990) (religious group responsible for menorah display permitted to intervene in suit to exclude display from public plaza because group likely to succeed on merits and because menorah was private and carried a large and explicit disclaimer in an area where demographics make it unlikely that anyone would believe that Grand Rapids endorsed Judaism); McCreary v. Stone, 739 F.2d 716 (2d Cir.1984) (créche displayed in public park with no public financial assistance constitutional), affirmed sub nom. Board of Trustees v. McCreary, 471 U.S. 83, 105 S.Ct. 1859, 85 L.Ed.2d 63 (1985); ACLU v. City of Birmingham, 791 F.2d 1561 (6th Cir.1986) (unadorned créche display on city hall property unconstitutional), certiorari denied, 479 U.S. 939, 107 S.Ct. 421, 93 L.Ed.2d 371 (1986); Doe v. City of Clawson, 915 F.2d 244 (6th Cir.1990) (combined display of créche and secular symbols constitutional); cf. Harris v. City of Zion, 927 F.2d 1401 (7th Cir.1991) (municipal seal of Rolling Meadows and seal, emblem and logo of Zion represent unconstitutional uses of Christian symbolism, e.g., a Latin cross); Doe v. Village of Crestwood, 917 F.2d 1476 (7th Cir.1990), petition for certiorari filed, 59 U.S.L.W. 3726 (U.S. Apr. 23, 1991) (No. 90-1573) (government-sponsored Roman Catholic mass celebrated in public park during Italian cultural festival unconstitutional); ACLU v. City of St. Charles, 794 F.2d 265 (7th Cir.1986) (display of cross atop city firehouse during Christmas season unconstitutional), certiorari denied, 479 U.S. 961, 107 S.Ct. 458, 93 L.Ed.2d 403; Kaplan v. City of Burlington, 891 F.2d 1024 (2d Cir.1989) (unattended, solitary display of a menorah in a public park over a ten-day period unconstitutional), certiorari denied, — U.S. -, 110 S.Ct. 2619, 110 L.Ed.2d 640; Gilfillan v. City of Philadelphia, 637 F.2d 924 (3d Cir.1980) (expenditure of city funds for platform and cross used by Pope John Paul II to celebrate Mass and deliver sermon unconstitutional), certiorari denied, 451 U.S. 987, 101 S.Ct. 2322, 68 L.Ed.2d 845 (1981). Before turning to the specific application of Lemon and Allegheny to the facts of the Jaycees’ display, this Court recognizes that constitutional debates over the application of the Establishment Clause not only arise over the proper application of the constitutional tests articulated by the Supreme Court, but also over first principles — in this case, an understanding of the purpose of and intent behind the constitutionally mandated separation of church from state. Unlike other paradigmatic constitutional debates, like that over the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment or the constitutional right to privacy, in which one side, advocating a more restrictive reading of the scope of particular constitutional provisions, reads the Constitution in light of the original intent of the Framers, while the other views the inquiry as futile and instead applies constitutional commands to contemporary societal conditions — here both sides argue vociferously for adherence to original intent. As one noted scholar of the religion clauses has stated: Because there is an unusual abundance of historical evidence, and because there is ample evidence to support both sides, both sides appeal to history. Those who would invalidate government action abandon their usual argument that original intent is not binding, and instead urge that this time original intent is on their side. That tactical choice tells you something about the perceived legitimacy and persuasive power of original intent arguments. Despite their many problems, they have an almost irresistible appeal. Douglas Laycock, Text, Intent, and the Religion Clauses, 4 Notre Dame J.L. Ethics & Pub. Pol’y 683, 685 (1990). It is important to recognize what is at stake. The best illustration can be found in the recent Establishment Clause opinions of the Supreme Court and this Court in which a split has emerged. On one side are those Justices and Judges, more often in the majority than not, who adhere to the view that: [I]t is not within the power of government to invade * * * [the inviolable citadel of the individual heart and mind], whether its purpose or effect be to aid or oppose, to advance or retard. In the relationship between man and religion, the State is firmly committed to a position of neutrality. School Dist. of Abington Township v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203, 226, 83 S.Ct. 1560, 1574, 10 L.Ed.2d 844. Adherents of this position look to the original intent of the religion clauses of the Constitution to conclude that the Framers of the Establishment Clause intended to provide protection against any governmental intrusion on religious liberty and that all forms of government aid to religion are unconstitutional. They find support in the text of the Clause itself, the legislative debates surrounding the adoption of the text of the First Amendment, the debates in the revolutionary states over questions of church-state relations, and the history of religious persecution that provided a background to the debates over the adoption of the Establishment Clause. In addition, supporters of the view that the Framers drafted the Establishment Clause to protect freedom of religious belief and to commit the state to a position of neutrality vis-á-vis questions of conscience, look to statements by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, champions of the disestablishment of religion at the time that the new nation defined itself. From Jefferson, we have the oft-quoted letter to the Dan-bury Baptist Association, in which he wrote that “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature ‘should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between church and State.” 8 Writings of Thomas Jefferson 113 (H. Washington ed. 1861). James Madison, who played a large role in the drafting and passage of the Bill of Rights, also provides support for the view that the Framers intended the Establishment Clause to have broad application. In his “Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments,” Madison wrote: The Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate. This right is in its nature an unalienable right. * * * We maintain therefore that in matters of Religion, no man’s right is abridged by the institution of Civil Society, and that Religion is widely exempt from its cognizance. ■ James Madison, “Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments, 1785” at para. 1, reprinted in Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38, 53-54 n. 38, 105 S.Ct. 2479, 2487-2488 n. 38, 86 L.Ed.2d 29 (1985). Justice Brennan, an avowed skeptic of the utility of inquiring into original intent of the Framers, nevertheless relied upon his understanding of their purpose in writing to uphold a prohibition on the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in a public school: [Njothing in the text of the Establishment Clause supports the view that the prevention of the setting up of an official church was meant to be the full extent of the prohibitions against official involvements in religion. * * * [T]he history which our prior decisions have summoned to aid interpretation of the Establishment Clause permits little doubt that its prohibition was designed comprehensively to prevent those official involvements of religion which would tend to foster or discourage religious worship or belief. Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. at 233-234, 83 S.Ct. at 1577-1578 (Brennan, J., concurring). On the other side of the historical debate, supporters of the view that certain forms of governmental aid to religion are appropriate offer an alternative version of the Founders’ original intent. In Wallace v. Jaffree, Justice Rehnquist launched the judicial attack on a broad reading of the Establishment Clause. He set out to correct what he called a “mistaken understanding of constitutional history,” Wallace, 472 U.S. at 91, 105 S.Ct. at 2508, and concluded that: The Framers intended the Establishment Clause to prohibit the designation of any church as a “national” one. The Clause was also designed to stop the Federal Government from asserting a preference for one religious denomination or sect over others. Given the ‘incorporation’ of the Establishment Clause as against the States via the Fourteenth Amendment in Everson, States are prohibited as well from establishing a religion or discriminating between sects. As its history abundantly shows, however, nothing in the Establishment Clause requires government to be strictly neutral between religion and irreligión, nor does that Clause prohibit Congress or the States from pursuing legitimate secular ends through nondiscriminatory sectarian means. Id. at 113, 105 S.Ct. at 2519 (Rehnquist, J., dissenting). Under this approach, nothing in the Establishment Clause’s history prevents a generalized endorsement of religion, leading Justice Rehnquist to vote to uphold school prayer in the Alabama schools. Id. at 114, 105 S.Ct. at 2519. The narrower understanding of the Establishment Clause he put forward was embraced more recently by Justice Kennedy in his concurring and dissenting opinion in Allegheny. Under this approach, Justice Kennedy would jettison the traditional Establishment Clause analysis as applied by Justice Black-mun in his majority opinion in Allegheny, in favor of a “coercion” or “prosyletization” approach. See also Board of Educ. v. Mergens, — U.S. -, 110 S.Ct. 2356, 2376, 110 L.Ed.2d 191 (Kennedy, J., concurring). Noting that the display of a creche in a public space, Lynch, 465 U.S. at 668, 104 S.Ct. at 1355; tax exemptions to churches, Walz v. Tax Comm’n, 397 U.S. at 664, 90 S.Ct. at 1409; government programs supplying textbooks to students in parochial schools, Board of Educ. v. Allen, 392 U.S. 236, 88 S.Ct. 1923, 20 L.Ed.2d 1060 (1968); and a public school system’s program to give students part of the day off to attend religious classes, Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U.S. 306, 72 S.Ct. 679, 96 L.Ed. 954 (1952), all represented permissible accommodation of religion, he went on to say: The ability of the organized community to recognize and accommodate religion in society with a pervasive public sector requires diligent observance of the border between accommodation and establishment. Our cases disclose two limiting principles: government may not coerce anyone to support or participate in any religion or its exercise; and it may not, in the guise of avoiding hostility or callous indifference, give direct benefits to religion. * * * Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 659, 109 S.Ct. at 3136 (Kennedy, J., concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part). Under this approach, the state’s so-called passive and symbolic recognition of religion would not violate the Establishment Clause, so that religious displays that fall short of actually “establishing” a religious faith would pass muster under this “coercion” test. This view has found support in dissenting opinions of this Court. In American Jewish Congress, 827 F.2d at 120, the majority held unconstitutional a display of a nativity scene in Chicago City Hall, applying the secular purpose and endorsement prongs of Lemon and citing in support of this decision a broad view of the Establishment Clause’s prohibitions. Dissenting from this decision, Judge Easterbrook criticized the content- and context-specific approach required in applying the Lemon test, instead advocating the adoption of the “coercion” approach. Conducting his own review of the constitutional history of the Establishment Clause, the dissent concluded that “force or funds are essential ingredients of an ‘establishment.’ ” American Jewish Congress, 827 F.2d at 137 (Easter-brook, J., dissenting). However, this approval of the coercion approach was tempered by the appropriate caveat: “I offer this conclusion in the spirit of constructive criticism, because it is plainly not the law today.” Id. More recently, in Crestwood and Zion, Judge Easterbrook repeated his criticism of Lemon, charging that it “has lost its tang.” Zion, 927 F.2d at 1424 (Easterbrook, J., dissenting). Although Judge Easterbrook reiterated his own view that the Establishment Clause forbids “taxation and coercion in support of religion,” while permitting the display of religious symbols, id. at 1423, he believes that under Allegheny, an appellate court may abandon Lemon in favor of Justice O’Connor’s endorsement analysis. Id. at 1425. Under the endorsement test, Judge Easterbrook would have held the two municipal seals at issue in Zion unconstitutional. Although the debate over the original intent behind the Establishment Clause continues to rage, we decline to jump into the fray by conducting yet another exhaustive review of the Framers’ intent by scouring primary sources such as legislative debates, the writings of individual Framers, the state debates over church-state issues, or the history of religious persecution as it existed at the time that the Bill of Rights was passed. There is no need to do so here, for a proper understanding of the original intent prevents this Court from sustaining the explicit, preferential accommodation of religion by government that occurred in this case. The Establishment Clause means that government may not prefer one religion over another, nor may it aid all religions evenhandedly. Both types of aid effected, in the Founders’ view, an establishment of religion. See Laycock, “Nonpreferential” Aid to Religion: A False Claim About Original Intent, 27 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 875, 878 (1986). Coercion certainly falls within the cognizance of this definition, but coercion is not all that the Establishment Clause was intended to or has been interpreted to proscribe. On the contrary, “establishment” means much more than coercion — it means acts of the state that place the imprimatur of governmental approval upon a religious creed or belief. Governmental acts such as placing a nativity scene in city hall, mandating school prayer in the public schools, or, as in this case, expressly endorsing the presentation of a private religious display on public property, represent state endorsement of one faith over another, with the result that the endorsement “sends a message to no-nadherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and an accompanying message to adherents that they are insiders, favored members of the political community.” Lynch, 465 U.S. at 688, 104 S.Ct. at 1367 (O’Connor, J., concurring). Our conclusion in this case must be tempered by a recognition that while history is helpful in determining which problems the Framers were attempting to solve, “an awareness of history and an appreciation of the aims of the Founding Fathers do not always resolve concrete problems.” Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. at 234, 83 S.Ct. at 1578 (Brennan, J., concurring); see also Laycock, Text, Intent, and the Religion Clauses, 4 Notre Dame J.L.Ethics & Pub.Pol’y 683, 696-697 (1990). In his concurrence in Abington School District v. Schenipp, Justice Brennan cautioned against a “too literal quest for the advice of the Founding Fathers upon the issues of [the case at hand],” 374 U.S. at 237, 83 S.Ct. at 1579. In sum, original intent reminds us that courts in particular cases might apply the constitutional test differently, but they “cannot diminish in any way the force of the command” that “government may not demonstrate a preference for one particular sect or creed (including a preference for Christianity over other religions).” Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 605, 109 S.Ct. at 3107, quoting Larson v. Valente, 456 U.S. 228, 244, 102 S.Ct. 1673, 1683, 72 L.Ed.2d 33 (1982). B. The Constitutional Tests Our recognition here that the Framers intended the Establishment Clause to forbid governmental endorsement of religion provides the backdrop for a contextual and content-based examination of the paintings in the Park in accordance with modern-day Establishment Clause jurisprudence. The resolution of this case depends upon an application of one of two tests, both of which have been approved by shifting majorities of Supreme Court Justices in their attempt to articulate a principled approach to Establishment Clause jurisprudence. The first test, containing three prongs, was articulated by the Supreme Court in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602, 91 S.Ct. 2105, and has become known as the Lemon test: “[A] statute or practice which touches upon religion, if it is to be permissible under the Establishment Clause, [1] must have a secular purpose; [2] must neither advance nor inhibit religion in its principal or primary effect; and [3] must not foster an excessive entanglement with religion.” Lemon, 403 U.S. at 612-613, 91 S.Ct. at 2111. In Establishment Clause cases involving the constitutionality of a religious display, the courts have applied the prongs of this test to the various factual circumstances — its physical setting, its proximity to the seat of governmental power, its position on public property, the presence or absence of secular objects that might mitigate the religious effect of the display, its history and ubiquity, and the degree of government approval or sponsorship of the display. While the lower courts have used the Lemon test to draw lines in Establishment Clause cases, the Supreme Court itself has resisted wholeheartedly adopting the test in every case. Indeed in Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 1355, in upholding the display of a creche by the city of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the Court recognized the usefulness of the Lemon test but stated that “we have repeatedly emphasized our unwillingness to be confined to any single test or criterion in this sensitive area.” Lynch, 465 U.S. at 679, 104 S.Ct. at 1362. Despite this caveat, Chief Justice Burger applied the three prongs of the Lemon test in his majority opinion, finding, e.g., a legitimate secular purpose (in satisfaction of prong one) in the display of the creche on the facts of that case'. Lynch, 465 U.S. at 681, 104 S.Ct. at 1363. However, in her concurrence, Justice O’Connor voted to uphold the display based on a variation of the Lemon test, stating: Every government practice must be judged in its unique circumstances to determine whether it constitutes an endorsement or disapproval of religion. In making that determination, courts must keep in mind both the fundamental place held by the Establishment Clause in our constitutional scheme and the myriad, subtle ways in which Establishment Clause values can be eroded. Lynch, 465 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. at 1370. Justice O’Connor emphasized the second prong of the Lemon test (primary effect to endorse religion), believing it to be disposi-tive to Establishment Clause analysis. The endorsement test as refined focuses on the content and context of a display to determine whether a governmental body has run afoul of the Establishment Clause. In County of Allegheny v. ACLU, 492 U.S. 573, 109 S.Ct. 3086, Justice Blackmun, writing the opinion of the Court, reviewed the Supreme Court’s decision in Lynch and applied the endorsement test to uncover the underlying constitutional principle: “[T]he government’s use of religious symbolism is unconstitutional if it has the effect of endorsing religious beliefs, and the effect of the government’s use of religious symbolism depends upon its context.” Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 593-598, 109 S.Ct. at 3101-3103. Justice Blackmun employed Justice O’Connor’s approach, noting that it “provides a sound analytical framework for evaluating governmental use of religious symbols.” Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 595, 109 S.Ct. at 3102. In evaluating the constitutionality of the creche displayed in the foyer of the county courthouse and the menorah placed in front of City Hall, the Court in Allegheny viewed its task as “deter-min[ing] whether the display of the créche and the menorah, in their respective ‘particular physical settings,’ has the effect of endorsing or disapproving religious beliefs.” Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 597, 109 S.Ct. at 3103. In Allegheny, the Supreme Court’s decision demonstrates the challenge posed to a reviewing court by a content-based, contextual approach to the Establishment Clause. While the Supreme Court, on the one hand, found unconstitutional a créche displayed on the grand staircase inside the Allegheny County Courthouse, on the other, the Court in the very same case upheld the display of a Chanukah menorah in front of the City-County Building. In reaching its decision as to the créche, the Court concluded that the content and context of the créche display endorsed a patently Christian message: “Glory to God for the birth of Jesus Christ.” Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 601, 109 S.Ct. at 3105. The display of the menorah presented “a closer constitutional question” than the créche. Id. 492 U.S. at 613, 109 S.Ct. at 3111-3112. The majority (albeit a different one than voted to find the county’s display of a créche unconstitutional) held that the menorah, because of its placement alongside a large Christmas tree and a sign bearing the Mayor’s name and the slogan, “Salute to Liberty," did not “have an effect of endorsing religious faith.” Id. at 620-621, 109 S.Ct. at 3115. Because of the shifting majority in Allegheny, in which only two Justices, Blackmun and O’Connor, voted to find the créche unconstitutional and the menorah constitutional, whereas three Justices, Brennan, Marshall and Stevens, voted to find both the créche and the menorah to be unconstitutional, and three Justices, Rehnquist, Scalia and Kennedy, voted to find both displays constitutional, this Court has to be especially diligent in applying Establishment Clause jurisprudence. Fortunately in this case the constitutional question is not close. The Jaycees’ display of the paintings fails the first two prongs of the Lemon test as elaborated in Allegheny. It is patently inconsistent with the time-tested, venerable command of the Establishment Clause that: [Government may not promote or affiliate itself with any religious doctrine or organization, may not discriminate among persons on the basis of their religious beliefs and practices, may not delegate a governmental power to a religious institution, and may not involve itself too deeply in such an institution’s affairs. Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 590-591, 109 S.Ct. at 3099. This constitutional edict remains in force even in cases in which a private actor claims responsibility for the religious expression at issue. The dissent charges this Court with invoking an improper analytical framework in its application of the Lemon and endorsement tests rather than viewing the display as constitutionally protected private expression. As the dissent would have it, assertedly private speech is exempt from Establishment Clause analysis. This begs the question, however. It is precisely through the application of the Lemon and endorsement tests that a reviewing court makes a determination whether expression is private or whether it bears the imprint of government endorsement. A government may not evade the constitutional obligations imposed by the Establishment Clause by seeking refuge in the protective mantle afforded to private actors by the freedom of speech and expression clause of the First Amendment. 1. Secular Purpose under Lemon Through the pronouncements and actions taken in support of the display of the paintings, the Jaycees have obviated any claim that the display satisfies the secular purpose prong of the Lemon test. Unlike a Christmas tree, recognized by the Supreme Court in Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 616, 109 S.Ct. at 3113, and by this Court to be a secular symbol of the holiday season, Lubavitch Chabad House, Inc. v. City of Chicago, 917 F.2d 341, 343 (7th Cir.1990), the paintings are undeniably religious in nature. They portray sixteen scenes in the life of Jesus which together encapsulate the essential religious message of Jesus’ life to Christians. As already noted, only three of the paintings have anything to do with the Christmas holiday and the story of Jesus’ birth. And even those paintings relate the religious background of the holiday, particularly when viewed as part of an overall religious display in which thirteen paintings have no connection whatsoever to the secular celebration of the Christmas holiday season. The Jaycees fail in their argument to overcome the core of the paintings’ spiritual nature by attempting to manufacture a secular purpose out of whole cloth. The Jaycees contend that the display satisfies the Establishment Clause test as articulated in Lemon. However, they fail in their main brief even to address the secular purpose prong of Lemon as it relates to these facts. The Jaycees state that the Supreme Court in Lynch found a secular purpose in the display of the créche — namely, the celebration of Christmas and its origins. From this statement, they infer that the paintings in the municipal Park share the same purpose and therefore satisfy the first prong of Lemon. However, in his incisive opinion below, the' district judge recognized the Jaycees’ unconstitutional purpose in effecting a governmental endorsement of religion. First, the district judge rightly pointed to the City Council’s Resolution, passed in 1986 at the same time that the City granted the Jaycees permission to construct new concrete-filled holes with metal sleeves to support the paintings. As noted above, the City not only rejected Richard Rohrer’s complaint and granted permission to the Jaycees to display the paintings for another season, but it passed the following Resolution: NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Ottawa, that after due consideration and reflection upon the complaint raised concerning the pictures in Washington Park, that the Council endorse the activities of the Ottawa Jaycees in maintaining, erecting, dismantling and storing said pictures and incorporating them in the overall Christmas display that annually graces the downtown area of the City and further thanks all the other groups, public and private, who also maintain, erect, dismantle and store other portions of the Christmas decorations which are integral to the annual Yuletide season and the spirit thereof. (City Council Resolution, Dec. 2, 1986, Plaintiffs App. 33) (emphasis supplied). On its face, the constitutional defect of the Resolution is readily apparent. The City did not try to hide its approval of the religious display and even used the word “endorse” to express its support. In view of the judicial test for Establishment Clause violations, the City’s use of this word to describe its support for the display is enlightening. When considered along with the rest of the Christmas displays, the City reserved its special plaudit for the Jaycees’ pictures. In explicitly endorsing the Jaycees’ display, the City made no acceptable attempt to articulate a secular purpose for doing so. A “statute should be held to have an improper purpose * * * [since] it is beyond purview that endorsement of religion or a religious belief ‘was and is the law’s reason for existence.’ ” Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. at 75, 105 S.Ct. at 2499 (O’Connor, J., concurring), citing Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97, 108, 89 S.Ct. 266, 272, 21 L.Ed.2d 228 (1968). In this case, it is beyond dispute that endorsement of religion was the reason for the display. The Jaycees advance three other secular purposes for the display in their attempt to pass the secular purpose prong of the Lemon test. First, they claim that the City’s policy of permitting the display represented a permissible accommodation of religion. In their brief, the Jaycees point to the City’s “policy of equal access” and to its participation in the celebration of the Christmas season as a permissible accommodation that allows the Jaycees to display the pictures in the Park. The history of City sponsorship and support of the display provides no evidence to the district court of the actual content and application of the City’s claimed “equal access” policy. The record plainly shows that the pictures in the Park have been the only display to be mounted in the Park annually for any long period of time. While the City may permit an occasional festival, concert, or presidential campaign appearance to be held in the Park, it has been telling “The Greatest Story Ever Told” to passers-by for more than a generation. Moreover, the City has not permitted any other group to install permanent foundations to support their displays. Only the Jaycees’ claimed “equal access” earned them the explicit endorsement and input of the City in designing the concrete-filled holes and metal sleeves especially to support the paintings. In applying its “policy” of equal access, the City apparently believes that some groups are more equal than others! The dissent reprints the list of onetime events that, according to the City clerk, took place in the Park and reprimands the majority for failing to draw reasonable inferences in a light most favorable to the non-moving party. Dissent at 793-794. However, the plaintiff does not dispute that the one-time events took place. Neither the occurrence of events in the Park, nor the fact that a park is generally considered to be the quintessential public forum, Hague v. CIO, 307 U.S. 496, 515, 59 S.Ct. 954, 964, 83 L.Ed. 1423, (1939), establishes that the City employed an open access policy with regard to the Park. The existence of an equal access policy is clearly an ultimate question, a constitutional fact that requires this Court to review the record de novo. As such, this Court is under no obligation to draw inferences favorable to the non-moving party. The mere assertion of a policy by the Jaycees does not mean that it exists in light of the record in this case, which supports the conclusion that the City had no policy at all. The City’s laissez-faire approach becomes clear in Mayor Small’s responses to plaintiff counsel’s questions at a deposition: [By Ms. Golden:] Q. What is the City’s policy concerning the display of property in its park system? A. [By Mayor Small:] First come, first serve. Q. And I take it * * * that the policy first come, first serve is not written in any documents which the City uses in enforcing its policy? A. There’s nothing in granite. Q. How about in ink? A. There you go. Not that I know of, okay. Q. And that’s the policy that you followed since 1971 in making the decisions as to the use of Washington Park and every other park in the City of Ottawa; is that correct? A. Not necessarily, no. (Deposition of Mayor George D. Small at 22, Plaintiff’s Exhibit No. 57.) Mayor Small then suggested that the City would permit any display “[a]s long as it didn’t have a safety factor to it.” Id. at 23. However, with respect to the paintings, Mayor Small admitted that no safety determination was ever made. Id. at 24. When pressed by plaintiff’s counsel to identify the safety factors or the extent to which the City would permit a pérmanent display or structural addition to the Park, Mayor Small’s responses indicated that subjective determinations, rather than an articulated policy, characterized the City’s approach to the use of its parks. Furthermore, while many varieties of expression must be tolerated in a public forum to guarantee freedom of expression, the Establishment Clause prevents the government from endorsing a religious message, even if the message is expressed in a public forum. A government may not avoid the constitutional command of the Establishment Clause by channelling its endorsement through a private speaker’s religious expression in a public forum. See discussion in Part II.B.2.C. infra. The Jaycees offer an additional secular purpose for the display: that it is part of the celebration of the Christmas holiday season. By offering this as a justification, the Jaycees cannot escape an analysis of the display’s content and context to determine whether it rises to an unconstitutional endorsement of its religious message by the City. Indeed, where a city’s display of an undeniably religious symbol has been upheld, see Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 573, 109 S.Ct. at 3086; Lynch, 465 U.S. at 668, 104 S.Ct. at 1355; Mather, 864 F.2d at 1291; McCreary, 739 F.2d at 716; Clawson, 915 F.2d at 244, the analysis turns on the extent to which the religious message is either “neutralized” by the presence of other secular symbols or messages, or is part of an overall, integrated holiday display. The Jaycees cannot seriously contend that sixteen large paintings depicting seminal events in the life of Jesus represent nothing more than an attempt by the City to celebrate the holiday season by inviting the Jaycees to mount the paintings annually in the Park. The claim that the paintings further the secular aspects of the Christmas season demonstrates an insensitivity to the religious importance of Jesus’ life to Christians and demeans whatever meaning the paintings hold by equating them with the secular symbols of the season, such as the Christmas Tree, the bow, lights, or a 15-foot snowman. As Justice Brennan observed in his concurrence in Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. at 259, 83 S.Ct. at 1591, “[i]t is not only the nonbeliever who fears the injection of sectarian doctrines and controversies into the civil polity, but in as high degree it is the devout believer who fears the secularization of a creed which becomes too deeply involved with and dependent upon the government.” Even if we accept the Jaycees’ contention that the paintings’ purpose was to celebrate the holiday season, this does not mean that they may fulfill this purpose in an unconstitutional manner by obtaining the endorsement of the City. Allegheny teaches that the state may not accommodate religion by endorsing a religious display and then justify this endorsement as an appropriate accommodation to remove burdens on free expression or the free exercise of religion. Discussing this principle with reference to the creche displayed on the Grand Staircase of the Allegheny County Courthouse, Justice Blackmun wrote: The display of a créche in a courthouse does not remove any burden on the free exercise of Christianity. Christians remain free to display créches in their homes and churches. To be sure, prohibiting the display of a creche in the courthouse deprives Christians of the satisfaction of seeing the government adopt their religious message as their own, but this kind of government affiliation with particular religious messages is precisely what the Establishment Clause precludes. Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 601 n. 51, 109 S.Ct. at 3105 n. 51. In this case, the paintings are but one of many ways that Ottawa celebrates the Christmas holiday season. However, the paintings, unlike the accompanying lights, bows, candles, Santa Claus house or 15-foot snowman, pronounce a Christian message by graphically recounting the story of the life of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the City’s involvement with the paintings gives rise to an unconstitutional establishment of religion and represents an impermissible way for the City to fulfill the secular purpose of celebrating the Christmas holiday season. The Jaycees advance one more secular purpose for the display: “the promotion of shopping and the transaction of business.” In evaluating this proposed secular purpose, the analysis is the same. Although this purpose may in fact be secular, the City must show that there is a particularly good reason for the City to accomplish it