The Bogus Constitutional Case Against Christmas

George C. Landrith

The America Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the left have found a very interesting list of dangerous and threatening enemies to our constitutional representative democracy. If you’re a rational human being, you might think the greatest risks to America are murderous terrorists like Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, or hostile nations like North Korea or Iran. But if you’re with the ACLU or a committed leftist, your list of risks to America is very different – it includes: the Boy Scouts, the Pledge of Allegiance, and now Christmas. To the ALCU and to the left, Christmas trees, carols and nativity scenes are dangerous instrumentalities that threaten America’s foundation.

In Colorado, a town’s holiday parade was open to all – except Christians who were explicitly prohibited from entering a parade float depicting a Christmas theme. A school in Maryland used a pair of scissors to cut the word “God” out of a child’s poetry assignment before it could be displayed on the bulletin board. Many schools across America now ban Christmas carols. It is not uncommon for a public school holiday coral program to include Hanukah songs and Kwanza songs, but curiously omit Christmas songs – despite the fact that more than 85% of the population is Christian.

When specifically asked about Hanukah songs, the ACLU in a grand gesture of evenhandedness says that Hanukah songs must also go. But since when did it become the job of government to censure out any mention of Christmas or Hanukah from public life? Why do people who engage in such censorship and religious bigotry defend their outrageous behavior by reciting the First Amendment? Isn’t the whole point of the First Amendment to protect free speech and religious freedom?

Among other things, the First Amendment forbids government from (i) establishing a religion, (ii) prohibiting the free exercise of religion, and (iii) abridging the freedom of speech or press. For the record, the phrase “separation of church and state” does not appear anywhere in the Constitution. Simply stated, there is no constitutional requirement that government censure, separate or weed-out from public life anything that has religious meaning. There is no right to not hear or see ideas that you don’t believe in.

Christians do not have a constitutional right to never see a menorah or hear a traditional Jewish song. Likewise, Jews do not have a constitutional right to not see a nativity scene or hear a Christmas carol. Furthermore, atheists do not have a constitutional right to never see menorahs and nativity scenes. What sort of softheaded morons have we become if we need government to protect us from mere exposure to the ideas and beliefs of others? What a pitiful lot we must be if the mere sight of a nativity scene offends us or the mere sound of a carol insults us? The Constitution protects us from the government coercively forcing us to believe or not believe. But it doesn’t protect us from seeing or hearing things that we don’t believe.

Despite these facts, the ACLU and the left misrepresent the Constitution and abuse its protections to violate the free speech rights and the religious freedom guaranteed in the Constitution.

While America is overwhelmingly Christian, it is a nation of great diversity. More than any other nation in history, people of virtually every faith and culture call America home and enjoy constitutional protection to believe and worship (or to not believe and not worship) as they choose. America is the most tolerant of any nation in history. Not only does America’s majority tolerate other beliefs and cultures, it welcomes and celebrates them. Unfortunately, that remarkable diversity and tolerance are in jeopardy – not by an oppressive majority, but by a vocal, intolerant and relentless minority represented by the ACLU and the left.

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukah!

Tough luck, ACLU! Let freedom ring!

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Mr. Landrith is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was Business Editor of the Virginia Journal of Law and Politics. He had a successful law practice in business and litigation. In 1994 and 1996, Mr. Landrith was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's Fifth Congressional District. He served on the Albemarle County School Board. Mr. Landrith is an adjunct professor at the George Mason School of Law. He is recognized as an authority on constitutional law and jurisprudence, federalism, global warming, and property rights.

george@ff.org