After a year of court battles over government-ordered church closures and ignored religious objections to COVID-19 vaccines, two Illinois groups say they have the perfect societal antidote—Nativity crèches celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ displayed inside 40 state capitol buildings from New Hampshire to Hawaii. It is the ninth year of a partnership between the American Nativity Scene and the Thomas More Society, a religious-liberty law firm, promoting and placing Nativity scenes in state capitols and at other public venues. The 40 state capitol sites are a 25-percent increase compared to last Christmas and nearly double the number from 2018. “We’re very excited about the possibility of getting to 40,” Ed O’Malley, president of the American Nativity Scene in Prospect Heights, Illinois, told The Epoch Times. “It looks pretty good, but we’re not there yet.” With funding from an angel donor, American Nativity Scene provides two-foot-high figures depicting baby Jesus, …