Christian activists have been busy this Christmas season spreading good cheer and defending public celebrations of the birth of Jesus Christ. The Catholic League intervened earlier this month in two separate incidents in which public celebrations of Christmas were in jeopardy: the decision of the Meriden Public Library in Meriden, Conn., to ban portraits of Jesus from an artist’s exhibition and the decision of the affirmative action office at Central Michigan University to put out a "warning" document regarding campus celebrations of Christmas.
In the Meriden Public Library incident, William Donohue sent a letter to the executive director of the American Library Association in Chicago, requesting an end to any future grants to the library.
On December 15, the Meriden library board of directors voted unanimously to allow the artist to display her paintings of Jesus.
The "warning" document that Central Michigan University issued regarding campus celebrations of Christmas, which did not apply to celebrations of Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Las Posadas, put Christians on notice that their "holiday may be offensive to others within a place of employment." Christians were told: "It is inappropriate to decorate things with Santa Claus or reindeer or other ‘Christmas’ decorations."
During the same day that Fox News Channel decided to do a story on this, the document was withdrawn.
Two residents of Palm Beach, Fla., are "suing the town for refusing to allow a display of Christian Nativity scenes on public property alongside displays of the Jewish Menorah," according to CNSNews.com.
The Thomas More Law Center, in representing the plaintiffs, filed suit last week. The suit alleges that the policy of town officials "demonstrates hostility toward Christians" and that the town "has unconstitutionally deprived the plaintiffs of their right to freedom of speech and equal protection of the law guaranteed by the Constitution.
For more information visit the Catholic League website: www.catholicleague.org or Thomas More Law Center website: www.thomasmore.org.
