Legal groups are making a list and checking it twice, hoping to arm people with the facts and support they need to openly and confidently celebrate Christmas.
Every Christmas season there are challenges to the public expression of holiday. A Tennessee elementary school is under fire for including a Nativity scene and songs such as "Away in a Manger" in a program. Chicago rejected a film about the birth of Christ as a sponsor of the city's Christmas festival. And the list goes on.
Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, said the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), along with other groups, has long been perpetuating falsehoods about America's religious rights during the Christmas season.
"The hostility that's building toward Christmas has been around for decades," he told Family News in Focus. "What's more pronounced now is the fact that it is a clear attack on the message of the Christmas story, and that is the focus of it. It's about Jesus."
Heather Hacker, litigation counsel with The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), called it is an issue of political correctness run amok.
"A desire to not alienate people in the community means censorship of a holiday," she said. "Christmas is a national holiday. It's been recognized by the government for a very long time so it's not unconstitutional for anybody (to openly celebrate.)"
It is unnecessary, Hacker said, for a city hall to ban a Nativity scene or call a Christmas tree a "holiday tree."
"Well, what's a holiday tree? Everybody knows it's a Christmas tree," she said. "Why don't you just call it what it is? It's not offending people, it's acknowledging the fact that 95 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas. It's perfectly fine for the government to acknowledge that fact."
Mike Johnson, senior legal counsel for ADF, said celebrating Christmas is a protected religious right.
"Christmas is not just a meaningless, commercialized 'sparkle season,' as the ACLU is recommending it be referred to now," he said. "The last time I checked, Christmas was about a Child born in a manger, and I think we'd do well to remember that."
That's why The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has launched its fourth annual Christmas Project to educate Americans about what the law says concerning displays and what is allowed in schools and on public property. More than 950 allied attorneys are available nationwide to help anyone faced with an improper attempt to censor expressions of Christ's birth.
Johnson explained there is no legal basis for eradicating Christmas.
- The U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled that public schools must ban the singing of religious Christmas carols or prohibit the distribution of candy canes and Christmas cards.
- School officials do not violate the Constitution by closing on religious holidays such as Christmas and Good Friday.
- School officials are not legally obligated to recognize all other religious holidays simply because they officially recognize Thanksgiving and Christmas.
- School officials may use the term "Christmas Vacation" to refer to the December break without offending the Constitution.
- Government-sponsored Christmas displays are not banned as some people believe. When faced with the question whether a Christmas display is constitutional, the court examines whether it is celebrating a holiday or promoting religion. The judge will determine whether there are a sufficient number of secular objects in close proximity to the religious display to render it as a constitutional community observance.
Alan Sears, president of ADF, said according to a 2005 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll, 95 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas.
- In 2004, a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll found 88 percent of Americans say it is OK for people to wish others "Merry Christmas." The majority of Americans are more likely to wish someone they just met "Merry Christmas" than "Happy Holidays."
- In 2003, a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll found that 87 percent of Americans believe Nativity scenes should be allowed on public property.
- In 2000, Gallup found that 90 percent of Americans recognize Christmas is the birthday of Jesus Christ.
"An overwhelming majority of Americans of all faiths agree that we should celebrate Christmas," Sears said. "This is a time for goodness, giving and hope -- not a time for fear, intimidation and the disinformation of agenda-driven, anti-Christmas legal entities.
"Merry Christmas. It's OK to say it."
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
To learn more about the efforts of Christian legal groups defending Christmas visit the Web sites for the Alliance Defense Fund, the American Center for Law and Justice and Liberty Counsel.
