Tag Archives: Topic: Christmas

ABC (AP): The Texas House on Wednesday approved a bipartisan bill that aims to remove legal risks of saying “Merry Christmas” in Texas public schools.

MPR (AP): But Jordan Lorence, senior counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom, said his group was disappointed and “seriously contemplating an appeal.”

Matt Sharp at Alliance Defending Freedom: We often underestimate children. We think they understand less than they do and that they are incapable of having their own thoughts or views. Schools often make the same mistake and use a child’s age to justify restrictions on their speech. We have been involved in numerous cases where schools restricted young students from handing out invitations to church events or sharing their faith at school.

Alan Sears at Alliance Defending Freedom: The dangers posed more and more across America to the First Amendment protections of Christians like you – and your children – often show themselves in subtle ways. A small legal bias here, an evasion of religious freedom there, and those who would sideline people of faith gain one more crucial foothold of legal ground they can use to block the spread of the Gospel.

Matt Sharp on IQ 106.9 Philadelphia with Lionel and Michelle Murillo to discuss the case. | MP3 audio 5:57 mins

One News Now: David Cortman is senior legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, which filed the lawsuit in March 2011 on behalf of the Barrett Elementary Center student. “In this day and age, when our younger students are subject to so much that comes from both the school district and outside sources, it’s certainly important that they’re able to speak about their own faith and not be subject to censorship for it,” he states.

Citizen Link: “America’s public schools should recognize the constitutionally protected freedom of students who wish to hand out these kinds of fliers,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Sharp. “A flier cannot be banned just because some element of religious faith is part of it. On the contrary, the First Amendment specifically protected religious speech.”

Leonard Blair at Christian Post: In an interview with The Christian Post on Wednesday, Matt Sharp, legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal group based in Scottsdale, Ariz. which represented K.A. and her family, said they were happy with the ruling.
“We were very pleased with the court’s ruling in this. For several years there has been a move in the courts to respect the first amendment rights of students in particular, particularly younger students in elementary and middle school to share their faith at school,” he said.
“What this opens up is not just an invitation to a Christmas party but to any other religious event. It opens the door for K.A. to distribute any religious materials whether it’s an invitation to a church event or something else. As long as it’s done in a manner that doesn’t create a material disruption in school,” added Sharp.

Stoyan Zaimov at Christian Post: “Public schools should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel David Cortman, who argued before the court in October. “Those ideas include a 5th-grader’s invitations to a religious event. The 3rd Circuit was correct in striking down the school district’s unconstitutional ban.”

Maryclaire Dale at Pocono Record (AP): Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal group based in Scottsdale, Ariz., backed the family’s appeal. “America’s public schools should recognize the constitutionally protected freedom of students who wish to hand out these kinds of fliers,” said Matt Sharp, the group’s legal counsel. “A flier cannot be banned just because some element of religious faith is a part of it. On the contrary, the First Amendment specifically protects religious speech.”

WJACTV.com (AP): Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal group based in Scottsdale, Ariz., backed the family’s appeal.
“America’s public schools should recognize the constitutionally protected freedom of students who wish to hand out these kinds of fliers,” said Matt Sharp, the group’s legal counsel. “A flier cannot be banned just because some element of religious faith is a part of it. On the contrary, the First Amendment specifically protects religious speech.”

The Morning Call: “As the Supreme Court said many years ago, students don’t shed their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate, and that certainly applies to elementary school students as well,” said David Cortman, of Alliance Defending Freedom, a Georgia group that supports religious expression.

MSNBC: Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal group based in Scottsdale, Ariz., backed the family’s appeal. “America’s public schools should recognize the constitutionally protected freedom of students who wish to hand out these kinds of fliers,” said Matt Sharp, the group’s legal counsel. “A flier cannot be banned just because some element of religious faith is a part of it. On the contrary, the First Amendment specifically protects religious speech.”

Examiner.com: Today, Alliance Defending Freedom has announced that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the third Circuit Tuesday unanimously affirmed a lower court’s order that found two policies at a Pennsylvania school district unconstitutional after they were used to prevent a 5th-grade student from distributing invitations to a Christmas party at her church. [more]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit Tuesday unanimously affirmed a lower court’s order that found two policies at a Pennsylvania school district unconstitutional after they were used to prevent a 5th-grade student from distributing invitations to a Christmas party at her church.

How Appealing reports: Sixth Circuit rejects Freedom from Religion Foundation’s claim that the City of Warren, Michigan must add a “Winter Solstice” sign criticizing religious belief to the city’s pre-Christmas holiday display of secular and religious symbols . . . | Freedom from Religion Foundation v. City of Warren MI

Annie Laurie Gaylor at NY Times: If I had my druthers, Christmas would not be a federal holiday. It’s a no-brainer. The First Amendment categorically states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Clearly, designating the date upon which Christians observe the birth of their messiah as a federal holiday is making a law respecting an establishment of religion, and placing governmental weight behind Christianity.

NorthEscambia.com: Those behind displaying a nativity scene that once belonged to the Town of Century until it came under attack by an atheist group’s attorney as being illegal, are the February recipients of the Century Chamber of Commerce’s Community Pride Award.

Matt Sharp appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss this: Atheists Still Not Gleeful About Christmas. | MP3 audio 17:41 mins

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys sent a letter Tuesday to the Chambersburg Area School District after an atheist group complained about the selection of songs included in an annual Christmas performance by the Chambersburg Area Senior High School’s Glee Club.

UpNorthLive: A conflict over religious public displays has forced the Cheboygan City Council to take action. At Tuesday night’s meeting they will add a committee to take a look at the current policies regarding the use of city property.

Public Opinion: Chambersburg Area School District community members are upset a Wisconsin organization is trying to end one of the district’s longest-standing traditions. By some reports, the CASHS’ Glee Club’s annual performance of “The Song of Christmas” has surpassed six decades.

Religion Clause Blog: Al-Akhbar reported last week that in Saudi Arabia, the religious police raided a Christmas party at the home of an Asian diplomat and detained at least 41 people for plotting to celebrate Christmas.

Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe: The nativity scene at the Church of Barby in Savoy was set on fire on Tuesday, December 18th, between 7 and 8 in the evening.

Matt Sharp appeared on the Vicki McKenna Show to discuss this: Montana school accused of bullying for including Christmas carols in school performance. | MP3 audio 11:42 mins

Melanie Kirkpatrick at the Wall Street Journal: Public worship is dangerous. A ‘congregation’ might mean two people on a park bench, silently sharing their faith.

Prescott News: The FFRF complained that the religious overtones of the Courthouse Lighting ceremony were a violation of the separation of Church and State, and even went so far as to dictate what songs they felt were more appropriate. But not so fast. According to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the ceremony is protected under the First Amendment as it was sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and was not a government-organized event. The ADF even offered free legal assistance in the event of a legal challenge by the FFRF.

World Magazine: Matt Sharp of Alliance Defending Freedom said, “Courts have responded in favor of schools playing Christmas music, as long as it serves an overall educational purpose.” Candi Cushman, an education analyst with CitizenLink, which is associated with Focus on the Family, said, “From what we’ve seen, the school appears to have chosen a perfectly reasonable, balanced mix of songs like ‘Up on a House Top’ and ‘Joy to the World’ and has correctly emphasized that the musical program serves an educational purpose, reflecting long-standing, nationwide traditions.” I can respect the fact that Christmas songs might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if this is bullying, then no public expression of Christianity, no matter how banal and innocuous, is safe from censure.

Eric Metaxes at the Christian Post: When we see bullying tactics being employed during the holidays, we ought to direct the victims to religious rights groups like the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, or the Alliance Defending Freedom. They take on religious hostility cases with great gusto and, I might add, with great success.

One News Now: Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Jeremy Tedesco has sent a letter [PDF] to assure those officials that their actions were not illegal. “Of course it’s legal to celebrate national holidays like Christmas in the public square,” he insists. “Public officials should not fear attacks from atheist groups, because their freedom to participate in these events is protected under the First Amendment. “The attacks on Christmas are part of a larger campaign to snuff out all references to our Christian heritage and are best ignored by government officials.”

Kevin Seamus Hasson at the Wall Street Journal: Does it sometimes seem as if the Christmas wars—namely the battle between secularists and believers over how and where Christmas and Hanukkah (not to mention other faiths’ holidays) should be recognized—have been around forever? If so, you’re not far off. The opening shots of the war, at least in America, were fired in Plymouth Colony itself. And after nearly 400 years, it’s past time we learned our lesson and ceased hostilities.

Liberty Institute: The San Angelo Police Department of San Angelo, Texas, is the newest target of the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s (FFRF) aggressive efforts to systematically remove faith from public view.

Daily Caller: If the threatened lawsuit by the unnamed parents materializes, it would face substantial legal hurdles according to David Cortman, an attorney who specializes in the First Amendment at Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative-leaning nonprofit. “It doesn’t create a constitutional crisis to sing Christmas songs at Christmastime,” Cortman told the Daily Mail. “If every time there was a piece of art or classical musical with a religious theme, we censored it, we would be eliminating much from the students’ education.”

KPHO.com: “It is legal to celebrate national holidays like Christmas in the public square,” said Jeremy Tedesco, senior legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, which is an alliance-building legal ministry advocating for the right of people to freely live out their faith. “Public officials should not fear attacks from atheists because their freedom to participate in community celebrations is protected under the First Amendment,” Tedesco said in his own letter to the Arizona secretary of state and various city and school officials in Prescott. [Click here to read the full letter (PDF)]

Jordan Lorence at Townhall: Each year, misguided government officials and fearful corporate executives try to censor expressions of Christmas, and, each year, after people object, others deny such censorship exists. But it does. This year’s examples include . . .

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys sent a letter Wednesday to Missoula County Public Schools after the district faced complaints that certain religious songs should not be included in a Christmas performance by children at Chief Charlo Elementary school.

Alan Sears at the Human Life International Truth and Charity Forum: The 19th century Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky once wisely said, “If God does not exist, then everything is permitted.” Christians continue to wage a political and legal battle against a predominantly secular culture about the law and the meaning of life—both increasingly corrupted by what Blessed Pope John Paul II coined a “culture of death.”

Examiner.com: Today, Dec. 19, 2012 it was announced by Alliance Defending Freedom that the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) officially complained to the Arizona Secretary of State that their participation in a privately sponsored Christmas lighting ceremony in front of the county courthouse violates the Constitution. A false claim to be sure, but they will try anything to stifle the traditions that they do not agree with.

Todd Starnes at Fox News: “For them to include traditional religious Christmas carols is perfectly constitutional,” said Matt Sharp, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom. “The courts have clearly held that it’s constitutional for schools to include traditional religious carols as part of a secular educational music program.” The ADF said they sent a letter to the Missoula, Mont. School district advising them of their rights under the law and offered to give them legal support in the event of a lawsuit.

Bill Donohue at Newsmax: While there have been many organizations fighting the foes of Christmas — the Catholic League, the Thomas More Law Center, the Alliance Defending Freedom, the American Family Association — without the participation of men and women in our nation’s towns, villages, and cities, we wouldn’t be winning. Here are a few examples:

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys sent a letter Wednesday to the Arizona Secretary of State, and Prescott city and school officials after the Freedom From Religion Foundation officially complained that their participation in a privately sponsored Christmas lighting ceremony in front of the county courthouse violates the Constitution.

Alan Sears at Alliance Defending Freedom: If you’ve followed the work of Alliance Defending Freedom for long, you won’t be surprised to learn that, at Christmas time as throughout the year, Christian college students across the country – including your children and grandchildren – have to contend with administrators (paid by your tax dollars) who leave “no room in the inn” for faith and free expression.

KTVU.com: The Young Americans for Liberty at UC Berkeley, a campus libertarian group, started their protest around 10 a.m. at Sproul Plaza to speak out against a November decision by the Associated Students of the University of California Senate to ban the charitable group from campus because of its alleged homophobic practices.

California Catholic Daily: The student government at the University of California-Berkeley passed a resolution last month that would ban Salvation Army bell ringers and their iconic red kettles from campus this Christmas because of the Christian organization’s alleged bias against homosexuality.

Andy Norman at Bell Towers: Most scholars, jurists, and those who love God recognize that preserving our religious freedoms in the United States today is inseparably linked with promoting religious diversity. When the new, the small, the controversial, and the unpopular are able to express their beliefs freely, we all benefit. That freedom, however, comes under attack every Christmastime. . . . In support of an accurate reading of the Establishment Clause numerous groups have joined the battle in recent years. These include the Alliance Defending Freedom, the Christian Legal Society, TMLC, Liberty Council and many others. Thanks to these organizations and the private law firms and attorneys willing to take these cases, the tide may be turning.

Missoulian: A group of parents at Chief Charlo Elementary School are so upset over the selection of songs for the school’s holiday music program they are considering legal counsel.

The Star Phoenix: Ashu Solo continues to stack up complaints against City Hall — this time targeting Merry Christmas signs on buses. Earlier this year, he filed a human rights complaint over a Christian prayer by a city councillor at a City of Saskatoon volunteer appreciation dinner. The Saskatchewan human rights commission hasn’t ruled yet on the complaint.

Family Research Council: For our troops in the Middle East, it’s not away in a manger — it’s away goes the manger! After years of celebrating Christmas with a live nativity, the U.S. Navy is ordering military families to tear down its display on a Bahrain base. Service members were stunned. The news was most upsetting for the kids, who look forward to playing their parts all year long. “It was devastating,” one officer told Fox News. “Here we are serving in the Middle East, defending our country and other people’s religions… and we can’t even enjoy our own.”

Bradley Abramson at the Christian Post: For more than half a century the city of Santa Monica, Calif., allowed local churches to place nativity scenes in one of the city parks during the Christmas season. However, this practice was stopped after Christmas 2011 when Santa Monica atheist Damon Vix secured a permit to place an atheist display near the nativity scene – for he constructed not a “celebrate atheism” display, but one that disparaged and attacked Christianity.

The College Fix (includes video): A parade of University of Virginia students filmed a YouTube video recently that praised a row of twinkling Christmas trees and other holiday fare adorning a row of front porches along the school’s famed Lawn dorms and pitched administrators to let the decorations stay -but alas- campus officials told students to pack it up

The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty expresses disappointment over the Navy’s decision to inhibit the religious liberty of military personnel at a U.S. military facility in Bahrain.

KTRE.com: A group that previously attacked an East Texas county for its nativity scene is back again. This time hitting Houston County. But officials there say it’s not going anywhere.

WorldNetDaily: ADF reported today “people are once again free to peacefully share their faith at the ‘Bentleyville Tour of Lights’ event.” “The government cannot ban the First Amendment in a public park just because event officials don’t like the message that a person is sharing,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Jonathan Scruggs, who is co-counsel in the case with Nate Kellum of the Center for Religious Expression. “The court has done the right thing in enforcing what the original order sought to protect: the constitutionally protected freedom of citizens to engage in non-disruptive speech in a public place.”

Video and resources by the Alliance Defending Freedom and Gateways to Better Education.

Available here.

Religion Clause Blog: However, the court refused to hold defendants in contempt because of ambiguity in the language of the original preliminary injunction, instead issuing a new modified injunction to cover future Festivals. Alliance Defending Freedom issued a press release announcing the court’s decision. Duluth News Tribunereports on the decision.

Education News: The student government at the University of California-Berkeley (CAL) passed a resolution last month that would ban Salvation Army bell ringers and their iconic red kettles from campus this Christmas because of the Christian organization’s alleged bias against homosexuality.

William Becker at the Washington Times: In Santa Monica, Calif., city leaders earlier this year pulled the plug on a 59-year-old community celebration of the Christmas story — the birth of Jesus — in tourist-friendly Palisades Park. The city that for decades billed itself as “The City of the Christmas Story” banished the yuletide tradition after a mischievous band of atheist activists last year secured the bulk of display permits in order to spread their tidings of scorn for the Nativity displays. Agreeing with the city, a federal judge last week tossed out a lawsuit challenging the new ban. Such is the state of Christmas present.

Matt Sharp appeared on the Bob Dutko Show | MP3 audio 11:05 mins | Related Alliance Defending Freedom press releases: ‘Christmas’ trees axed at NC college and Good grief! Atheist group disgruntled with ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’

Matt Sharp appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss this: ‘God’ censored in 1st grader’s Veteran’s Day poem. | MP3 audio 5:37 mins

Click Orlando: Baby Jesus and a wooden donkey were stolen from the nativity scene of a Central Florida city, prompting officials to offer a cash reward for their return.

Hawaii News Now: A threatened lawsuit had put a halt to what’s become a Christmas tradition for members of the Moanalua High School orchestra. For the past six years, the award-winning group and volunteers from the New Hope Church have raised more than $200,000 for a charity that treats poor people in Africa.

LA Daily News: Residents in a Newhall senior apartment complex are protesting an order from management to remove their beloved Christmas tree from the community room because, they were told, it’s a religious symbol.

People are once again free to peacefully share their faith at the “Bentleyville Tour of Lights” event in Duluth. A federal court ruled Wednesday that the city violated a court order when it reinstated a First Amendment ban at the event.

Jordan Lorence at the Speak Up Movement University Blog: Each year, many liberals and secularists deny that there is any effort by anyone to censor Christmas. They claim that “Religious Right” leaders diabolically promote a phoney “War on Christmas” in order to bamboozle ignorant and gullible Christians into donating money for their efforts to thwart this allegedly nonexistent threat.

KATV.com (includes video): A church at the middle of a controversy regarding the play “Merry Christmas Charlie Brown” has decided to remove itself from the issue. Agape Church will not be offering the program for school matinees and will instead just have the public performances on the weekend. Here is a letter from the church that was sent to Channel 7.

Matt Sharp appeared on the Bill Post Radio Show to discuss the situation. | MP3 audio 14:07 mins

Matt Sharp appeared on KMCO with Greg Knapp last week to discuss the Christmas Tree controversy at Western Piedmont College. | MP3 audio 7:16 mins

Dave Cortman on the Janet Mefferd Show. | MP3 audio 15:37 mins

William McGurn at the Wall Street Journal: And the American people were again reminded of the apparent inability of so many of our bluest bloods to distinguish between upholding religious pluralism and enforcing anti-religion.

National Review embeds video of the debate.

Washington Examiner: By a wide margin, 68 percent to 23 percent, Americans prefer stores with signs that say “Merry Christmas” during the Christmas holidays than the more generic and secular “Happy Holidays,” according to a new Rasmussen Reports survey.

Matt Sharp appeared on the Bob Dutko Show to discuss this. | MP3 audio 5:13 mins

LifeSiteNews: Vandals in Toronto attacked and damaged the nativity scene placed in front of Toronto’s Old City Hall courthouse by Gethsemane Ministries, a Catholic lay movement.

American Freedom Law Center: A longstanding, local tradition returns to Warren, Michigan for the 2012 Christmas season as John Satawa is scheduled to reinstall his family’s nativity scene on the public median between Mound and Chicago Roads on Saturday, December 15.