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Last week, Jackson Mayor Scott Conger opened a minor can of worms when he shared a Christmas card quality photo of himself and his family in Downtown Jackson.

He opened the post by asking how we can honor the birth of Christ and then posted James 1:19-20 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

He then wished everyone reading a Merry Christmas.

By the time Christmas was over, there were more than 400 comments on the post with many of them wishing Merry Christmas back to the mayor and some even acknowledging their appreciation that he would mention Jesus Christs birth in his holiday message, something that many government officials opt not to do for varying reasons.

But among the more than 400 comments were a few that accused him of violating the First Amendment, specifically the part about freedom of religion.

Conger actually replied to a couple of them defending his statement with another part of the First Amendment, freedom of speech.

Now Im all for constructively criticizing Jacksons mayor as much as the next person when its warranted, but I dont think this is one of those times.

A lot of people seem to misunderstand the freedom of religion part of the First Amendment.

They seem to expect that when a person is elected to office or hired for a job within the government that theyre expected to leave their religion outside City Hall or the Courthouse or the White House or wherever theyre serving.

But thats not the case.

When the nations founding fathers wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, they were trying to make a nation that was the exact opposite of the nation they were breaking free from in England.

And that country imposed a national religion and expected all citizens to follow that religion if they wanted to be a part of that country or its empire.

So freedom of religion keeps the United State of Americas federal government and every state and local government within its borders from forcing a certain religion or any religion for that matter on its citizens.

It doesnt keep religion out of government.

It doesnt mean that a person who claims to be a Christian and runs for mayor is to refrain from praying or going to church or reading the Bible or anything like that while he or she is in office for four years every time he or she is elected.

If were to use Conger in this example, he just cant make any executive orders or push the City Council to pass any resolutions forcing or prohibiting one particular religion on Jacksons citizens.

I can tell you that one of Congers early executive orders during the pandemic had a line that was difficult to decipher regarding churches meeting, and I had conversations with city officials on a specific Friday in the spring of 2020 letting them know we at The Sun were prepared to do appropriate reporting that weekend and the following week if the executive order did restrict gatherings at church and law enforcement did enforce it before I was assured that the order was not prohibiting religious gatherings.

Faith may play a role in decisions he makes. At the state level, Gov. Bill Lee isnt shy about how his Christianity influences him to make some of the decisions he makes. And of course that brings out similar accusations against Lee that Congers Merry Christmas post did.

Of course a Merry Christmas wish from a city mayor and a policy declaration by a state governor are two different things with different ramifications.

But the checks and balances system of our government is in place for when that gray area of religion in government tends to get too dark on the side of religion if a policy affects a person or group of people too much.

But checks and balances do not affect whether or not someone can say Merry Christmas. And no ones First Amendment rights were violated last week with Congers post.

Save that argument for when it matters.

Brandon Shields is the editor of The Jackson Sun. Reach him at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 731-425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at editorbrandon.

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First Amendment is freedom of religion, not from it | Opinion - The Jackson Sun