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Currently, the ADF is dealing with 25 similar situations in schools around the country, and Arrington believes there are many more unreported cases. Jordan Lorence, senior counsel at ADF said, "The ACLU uses fear and intimidation and disinformation to get school districts and other government entities to censor Christmas in ways no court has required." Lorence said the ACLU typically will send a letter to a school saying a certain activity is unconstitutional, and often, the school complies with the letter to avoid a lawsuit. "People need to know the truth that the censorship of Christmas is not required by the constitution," Lorence said. "I find it maddeningly frustrating, that the ACLU writes these letters." According to Lorence, the Colorado appeals court has already ruled in a situation similar to the one at Elbert County Charter School. The ACLU lost that case in which a student objected to singing a religious Christmas carol, and though the student could opt out of the program, the ACLU asked the school not to sing the song. Lorence said the 10th circuit unanimously rejected the ACLU's position, yet the ACLU wrote a letter to Elbert Charter School saying the law forbids references to Christmas. Lorence said. "The Establishment Clause is not a weapon to be wielded to censor others."

Authentic displays

Whether it's singing Christmas carols in school, or posting the Ten Commandments in a courtroom, media attention tends to distort the real issue, said Hayes. "It's confused with whether or not religion is being kicked out of the public square, and it's a deeper question than that. This is an old theme in American history." Haynes said there is an anxiety particularly among evangelicals that the nation has fallen away from acknowledging its dependence on God. In response, there is an attempt to restore official acknowledgment.

"To me one of the lessons there to people of faith is that pushing the government to put up religious displays does not end well for religion. It often ends in trivializing religion, or worse yet, making the crèche a secular symbol," said Haynes. "It's better for private citizens to put up nativity scenes and the Ten Commandments, thereby they can do it in a way that's authentic."

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December (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47