LC Jeffries
Dec 14th, 2004, 10:31 AM
People are starting to fight back.
Christmas Censors
John Leo (townhall.com/archive) :ban:
The annual assault on Christmas comes in many forms. First,
there is the barrage of litigation by the American Civil
Liberties Union, which is reliably offended by almost any
representation of Christianity in the public square. Small
towns, facing the prospect of expensive litigation over
religious displays on public property, often cave in simply
out of fear. Part of the intimidation is that if the towns
lose, they must pay the legal fees of the ACLU. But now
religious-liberties legal groups provide attorneys to stand
up to the ACLU. The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund won
in federal court last month in a suit filed by the ACLU
against the city of Cranston, R.I. Cranston allows religious
and secular displays of all kinds on the front lawn of City
Hall.The ACLU argued that this was a church-state violation,
but U.S. District Judge William Smith ruled that nothing in
the evidence "reveals or even remotely supports an inference
that a religious purpose was behind the creation of the
limited public forum."
Another standard anti-Christmas maneuver is to argue that
all references to Christmas in public schools are suspect,
while references to Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, for whatever
reason, are not. The policy of the 1,200 New York City
public schools is that no purely religious symbols are
allowed, only ones that have a "secular dimension," such
as Christmas trees, menorahs, and the star and crescent. But
the star and crescent is hardly secular. It is the symbol of
Islam. And the menorah, though now losing some of its
religious significance, is the symbol of an intervention by
God to save the Jewish people. The Thomas More Law Center
filed suit on behalf of a Roman Catholic mother of two
public-school students, saying, in effect, that if the
city's public schools are allowing brief and educational
use of religious symbols for Muslims and Jews, then the
Christian crèche should be permitted, too. Last February,
U.S. District Judge Charles Sifton ruled for the school
system. The case is under appeal. The crèche, for now,
remains banned.
Lori :prin:
I just love a good controversial subject. I can't wait for the replies.
Christmas Censors
John Leo (townhall.com/archive) :ban:
The annual assault on Christmas comes in many forms. First,
there is the barrage of litigation by the American Civil
Liberties Union, which is reliably offended by almost any
representation of Christianity in the public square. Small
towns, facing the prospect of expensive litigation over
religious displays on public property, often cave in simply
out of fear. Part of the intimidation is that if the towns
lose, they must pay the legal fees of the ACLU. But now
religious-liberties legal groups provide attorneys to stand
up to the ACLU. The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund won
in federal court last month in a suit filed by the ACLU
against the city of Cranston, R.I. Cranston allows religious
and secular displays of all kinds on the front lawn of City
Hall.The ACLU argued that this was a church-state violation,
but U.S. District Judge William Smith ruled that nothing in
the evidence "reveals or even remotely supports an inference
that a religious purpose was behind the creation of the
limited public forum."
Another standard anti-Christmas maneuver is to argue that
all references to Christmas in public schools are suspect,
while references to Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, for whatever
reason, are not. The policy of the 1,200 New York City
public schools is that no purely religious symbols are
allowed, only ones that have a "secular dimension," such
as Christmas trees, menorahs, and the star and crescent. But
the star and crescent is hardly secular. It is the symbol of
Islam. And the menorah, though now losing some of its
religious significance, is the symbol of an intervention by
God to save the Jewish people. The Thomas More Law Center
filed suit on behalf of a Roman Catholic mother of two
public-school students, saying, in effect, that if the
city's public schools are allowing brief and educational
use of religious symbols for Muslims and Jews, then the
Christian crèche should be permitted, too. Last February,
U.S. District Judge Charles Sifton ruled for the school
system. The case is under appeal. The crèche, for now,
remains banned.
Lori :prin:
I just love a good controversial subject. I can't wait for the replies.