IT took three years of campaigning to change the mind of those in charge of Thistles Shopping Centre in Stirling. Finally, in what might be viewed as a gesture of seasonal good will, they have allowed a nativity scene to be displayed in their mall in time for Christmas. Revolutionary or what?

Although according to the Scottish Catholic Observer at least four other large malls feature a nativity – EK in East Kilbride, Clyde Shopping Centre, Kingdom Centre in Glenrothes and Eastgate Centre in Inverness – Thistles baulked at the idea. Until their volte face, they argued that they wanted to remain “religiously and politically neutral”, and thereby avoid offending customers.

It was the local parish priest, Father Andrew Kingham, of St Mary’s Church in Stirling, who made it happen, and he had no qualms about expressing his view on the mall’s responsibility. Far from worrying about offending shoppers, he said: “Shopping centres that take up such vast spaces of retail within town and city centres have a duty and a role to engage with their shoppers on more than just the product, particularly Christians at this time of the year.”

The Catholic Church has blamed “hostile secularists” for attitudes such as the Stirling mall’s. Banning displays in public places that remind passers-by of the original meaning of Christmas, it claims, ignores the fact that 54 per cent of the population is Christian. Personally, I would replace the word hostile with “fundamentalist”. After all, in every other religious sphere fundamentalists are the ones pointing out the gulf between “us” and “them” at every opportunity, vocally criticising those who hold different views, and forgetting that, for the time being at least, we live in a free and liberal democracy where everybody is entitled to their own ideas, so long as they don’t impose them on others.

Now, I would be the first to uphold the complete separation of state and church, refusing religion of any sort to influence legislation or policy. Political leaders who pass laws and run the country on our behalf might be Bahai, Confucian or pagan for all the difference it should make to their professional role. With a few notable exceptions, such as Tony Blair, most politicians are wise enough to keep their faith out of their office.

It is an entirely different matter, however, to insist on studied neutrality in an open public space. Taken to extremes, this would mean banning the wearing of crosses, or boycotting bakeries which sell simnel cakes. To me, the Thistles Shopping Centre’s stance sounds less like rampant secularism and more like chronic political correctness. Any among us who cannot bear the sight of the nativity – a baby in a manger with adoring parents, visitors and farm animals – can easily walk by without a glance. Nobody is forcing us to listen to the gospel, or sign up to its creed. Indeed, for some lapsed Christians or non-believers the nativity is an intrinsic part of the sentiment of this time of year, as are carols and sending cards. For the devout, on the other hand, it holds a deep and meaningful place in their hearts, not least because it is a wholly joyful, innocent moment in an often painful and bloody saga.

Whoever we are, for one month only Christianity is central to our lives in an unthreatening and nostalgic way. From Advent calendars to the exchange of gifts echoing the Magi’s largesse, from a day of royal feasting to taking down decorations on Epiphany, January 6, the story that began in a stable orchestrates the way we behave as the year draws to a close, regardless of whether we believe a word of it or ever give it a single thought.

Even those raised in other religions or as strict secularists should be given the chance to reflect on events whose ramifications have for two millennia profoundly and indelibly shaped western civilisation. In this instance the Catholic church is absolutely right to insist that we do not deny Christianity its place. Doing so, perversely, is to persecute it in the same way that helped it to flourish in the first place.

There is a supreme irony, of course, in a shopping mall actively side-stepping the Christmas story. Without the nativity and the worldwide religion it inspired, this would just be an ordinary month for retail. That tranquil scene around the straw manger is the reason why so many shops, restaurants, charities, taxi firms, supermarkets, hotels and online companies stay in business. December heralds not just a choir of heavenly angels but a bonanza of spending, charitable giving, partying and celebrating that for traders can mean the difference between make and break.

Perhaps some shop-owners simply don’t want to remind people of the season’s spiritual roots, for fear they take its message to heart and recognise the commercial connivance and consumer mania they are caught up in. I’m no church-goer, but I find the crass consumerism and competitive spending that cranks into top gear around this time massively more offensive than looking at an infant with a halo around his head.