There's a long tradition of separation of church and state in America, but sometimes, elected officials need to be publicly embarrassed to be reminded of it. A more polite passerby might have let a city building set up a manger at Christmastime without complaint, but longtime gadfly Chaz Stevens preferred to call bullshit when the City of Deerfield Beach allowed such a display outside the fire station. Last December, Stevens, a self-employed software developer, frequent gadfly, and self-described "hardcore atheist," called the boy king "baby fucking Jesus" and disparaged the barn scene as a "baby Jesus Motel 6." He threatened to sue Deerfield if it hosted Christian symbols while refusing to allow Stevens' own antireligious "Festivus pole," a six-foot-tall contraption made of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer cans, inspired by an episode of Seinfeld. Then, Stevens took his battle a step further and applied to display his pole in the rotunda of the state Capitol as well — a stunt that was, astonishingly, approved by the powers-that-be. Stevens drove to Tallahassee to install his "serious feat of ridiculousness." During the month that it stood, the Festivus Pole earned worldwide media coverage (including accolades from the Colbert Report) and paved the way for the Satanic Temple to apply for its own display.