Christian lawyers are ready to fight 'war on Christmas'

Michael Clancy
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 24, 2006 12:00 AM

As regularly as the Christmas decorations hit the stores, the drums start beating about the "war on Christmas."

"About this time every year, our phones start to ring off the hook from people reporting cases of discrimination," said Mike Johnson, a Louisiana attorney who works for the Scottsdale-based Alliance Defense Fund.

Every year for the past four, the fund has issued a news release before Thanksgiving to tout its free lawyer service and to point out what it contends is an organized plot to remove all religious meaning from the holiday.

The plotters are the American Civil Liberties Union, People for the American Way, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and others, Johnson says.

Each of those organizations denies such a plot.

"The plot against Christmas is a manufactured plot," said Bill Straus, Arizona director of the Anti-Defamation League, a group that defends the rights of Jewish people."

I have not heard of one complaint where somebody was berated for celebrating Christmas. If saying 'happy holidays' is offensive, then it is not us who has the thin skins."

Johnson, who has led the campaign for the Alliance Defense Fund since it began, says the organization got 400 phone calls last year about possible discrimination.

He said that more than 350 of them were resolved with a letter explaining what is and is not permissible in classrooms, on city hall lawns and other places where issues of the separation of church and state are fought.

He declined to say how many cases were taken to court.

Johnson acknowledges that most of the cases are the result of efforts to be inclusive and sensitive to non-Christians, not part of an organized plot.

"A lot of people have been misled by the far fringe left groups," he said. "A very vocal minority has a clear objective to silence religious expression."

He cannot point to any such objective in writing. But, he says, just look at the cases the ACLU takes to court.

"The proof of the tree is in the fruit it bears," he said.

For its part, the ACLU denies any such objective.

Alessandra Soler Meetze, the executive director of the Arizona branch, said the campaign "is a well-organized attempt to demonize us."

"The reality of the matter is that there are millions of places where people can celebrate Christmas without fear of conflict," she said. "State bureaucrats should not be the ones deciding which symbols to display on government property."

As for the Anti Defamation League, Johnson accused the group of mailing to schools holiday guidelines that go too far.

But Straus said, "We don't tell people anything about the holidays. We make it clear if the public schools have any questions, rather than cross the line, contact us, and we will help them.

"Can you mention Christmas, Jesus in school? Yes, but you cannot promote Christianity. That is against the law."

Charles Haynes of the First Amendment Center in Nashville says the distinction is relatively simple: Students and citizens may institute Christian activities, but school and government employees may not sponsor, endorse or promote them.

In an article on the organization's Web site, he quotes former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. She wrote, "There is a crucial difference between government speech endorsing religion, which the establishment clause forbids, and private speech endorsing religion, which the free-speech and free-exercise clauses protect."

Paul Eppinger, a retired Baptist minister, said he has noticed a greater number of people toning down their Christmas celebrations "out of sensitivity to others."

Eppinger, who leads the Arizona Interfaith Network, said a better idea would be to go ahead and celebrate Christmas in all its glory.

But don't do it on government property, and make sure all the other religious groups get their due for their holidays, as well.

"Because the United States is such a conglomeration of people from all cultures, peoples, races and faiths, we need some way to recognize and celebrate all their traditions with them," Eppinger said.