Legal Group Ready to 'Defend' Christmas
With Christmastime approaching, a legal group is saying that it is ready to defend ‘any improper attempts’ to censor Christmas celebrations in schools and other public property.
With Christmastime approaching, a legal group is saying that it is ready to defend ‘any improper attempts’ to censor Christmas celebrations in schools and other public property.
The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group based in Arizona, says that in addition to having 800 attorneys ready to defend individuals and organizations free of charge, it is also trying to fight misconceptions that people may have about the proper display of religious symbols in public property such as nativity scenes.
“We want to dispel the myths about the religious expression at Christmastime that have prompted wrongful acts of government censorship of religious speech," said ADF in a news release. “‘Merry Christmas.’ It's okay to say it."
In terms of public opinion regarding their effort, ADF cited a 2003 poll by Fox News conducted by Opinion Dynamics, which showed that 87 percent of Americans believe that nativity scenes should be allowed on public property.
ADF adds that the U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled that a public school can keep students from singing religious Christmas Carols, distributing candy canes or Christmas cards. It’s also acceptable to call an academic break in December a “Christmas Vacation” without violating the constitution, the group adds.
However there are legal considerations to keep in mind for public displays. The courts have determined that a municipality, for instance, must require that a certain number of secular objects be close enough to the religious object being displayed to make the overall display sufficiently secular.
ADF stated that the display must “not convey a message endorsing a particular religion’s view.” There is a basic question courts must ask, states ADF.
“Is the municipality celebrating the holiday or promoting religion?”
The ADF message is part of their Christmas Project. Also participating are Coral Ridge Ministries, Focus on the Family, Christmas Tree Farmers Association of New York, as well as others.
To learn more, visit www.saychristimas.org and www.telladf.org.
