{"id":8453,"date":"2012-12-12T12:13:35","date_gmt":"2012-12-12T20:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/?p=8453"},"modified":"2012-12-20T12:18:30","modified_gmt":"2012-12-20T20:18:30","slug":"churches-the-constitution-and-christmas-celebrations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/2012\/12\/churches-the-constitution-and-christmas-celebrations\/","title":{"rendered":"Churches, the Constitution, and Christmas Celebrations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Nativityby SpeakUpChurch –
\nEvery Christmas season, it seems that the \u201cwar on Christmas\u201d begins afresh and with renewed vigor.\u00a0 For some, the season that proclaims \u201cpeace on earth\u201d seems to be anything but, with demands to remove any and all religious references to the celebration of Christmas. And this year is no exception.<\/p>\n

For instance, Western Piedmont College in North Carolina recently replaced the word \u201cChristmas\u201d with the word \u201choliday\u201d<\/a> in a student club\u2019s announcement of a Christmas tree sale designed to raise money for charity.\u00a0 It was only after attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom sent a letter to the college that it reversed its decision and reinstated \u201cChristmas.\u201d<\/p>\n

In another case, a Little Rock, Arkansas, school was threatened with a lawsuit if it allowed its students to view a play based on the television special \u201cA Charlie Brown Christmas.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

There isn\u2019t enough space here to tell all of the stories of attempts to sanitize religious words from traditional Christmas carols<\/a>, remove nativity scenes<\/a>, ban religious references on Christmas ornaments<\/a>, replace the word \u201cChristmas,\u201d<\/a> or in some other way to secularize any public celebration of Christmas.<\/p>\n

In cases like these, it is easy to become misinformed, or perhaps to begin to accept the mantra that the Constitution requires a purely secular celebration of Christmas in the public square.\u00a0 But this is not the case, and churches can (and should) do a lot to regain a proper focus in society on the celebration of Christmas.<\/p>\n

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys have created a resource for churches called Seasonal Religious Expression<\/a> that explains the law regarding celebrations of Christmas both publicly and privately.\u00a0 Here are some highlights that are of particular interest to churches:<\/p>\n