Christmas Rights

Read and weep Mr Libby....... 

In the name of political correctness towns and government schools across the country will be attempting to violate them.

Are students allowed to sing Christmas carols with religious themes at school events or in holiday programs?

YES. The Establishment Clause does not prevent the singing of Christmas carols with religious origins by public school choirs. A case that addressed this specific issue upheld the singing ofreligious Christmas carols in public schools. In Florey v. Sioux Falls School District, 619 F.2d1311 (8th Cir. 1980), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that thestudy and performance of religious songs, including Christmas carols, are constitutional if theirpurpose is the “advancement of the students’ knowledge of society’s cultural and religiousheritage, as well as the provision of an opportunity for students to perform a full range of music,poetry and drama that is likely to be of interest to the students and their audience.” Id. at 1314.

YES. The Establishment Clause does not prevent the singing of Christmas carols with religiousorigins by public school choirs. A case that addressed this specific issue upheld the singing ofreligious Christmas carols in public schools. In Florey v. Sioux Falls School District, 619 F.2d1311 (8th Cir. 1980), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that thestudy and performance of religious songs, including Christmas carols, are constitutional if theirpurpose is the “advancement of the students’ knowledge of society’s cultural and religiousheritage, as well as the provision of an opportunity for students to perform a full range of music,poetry and drama that is likely to be of interest to the students and their audience.” Id. at 1314.

YES. The Establishment Clause does not prevent the singing of Christmas carols with religiousorigins by public school choirs. A case that addressed this specific issue upheld the singing ofreligious Christmas carols in public schools. In Florey v. Sioux Falls School District, 619 F.2d1311 (8th Cir. 1980), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that thestudy and performance of religious songs, including Christmas carols, are constitutional if theirpurpose is the “advancement of the students’ knowledge of society’s cultural and religiousheritage, as well as the provision of an opportunity for students to perform a full range of music,poetry and drama that is likely to be of interest to the students and their audience.” Id. at 1314.

Can schools teach about the biblical origins of holidays such as Christmasand Easter?

YES. In Stone v. Graham, 449 U.S. 39, 42 (1980), the Supreme Court stated, “the Bible mayconstitutionally be used in an appropriate study of history, civilization, ethics, comparativereligion, or the like.” Therefore, it would be constitutional for a public school teacher to havestudents study Biblical passages that relate to Christmas (e.g., Matthew 1:18-2:22, Luke 2:1-20)if the purpose was to study the historical or literary significance of the passages. In consideringthe type of activities that are appropriate in public schools, the federal appeals court in Floreystated, “[w]e view the term ‘study’ to include more than mere classroom instruction; publicperformance may be a legitimate part of secular study.” Florey, 619 F.2d at 1316. The Floreycourt went on to quote the lower court with approval, stating “[t]o allow students only to studyand not to perform [religious art, literature and music when] such works . . . have developed anindependent secular and artistic significance would give students a truncated view of ourculture.” Id. (alteration in original). Of course, any student that has ideological or religiousobjections to participating in a particular performance should be excused from the assignment.

In Stone v. Graham, 449 U.S. 39, 42 (1980), the Supreme Court stated, “the Bible mayconstitutionally be used in an appropriate study of history, civilization, ethics, comparativereligion, or the like.” Therefore, it would be constitutional for a public school teacher to havestudents study Biblical passages that relate to Christmas (e.g., Matthew 1:18-2:22, Luke 2:1-20)if the purpose was to study the historical or literary significance of the passages. In consideringthe type of activities that are appropriate in public schools, the federal appeals court in Floreystated, “[w]e view the term ‘study’ to include more than mere classroom instruction; publicperformance may be a legitimate part of secular study.” Florey, 619 F.2d at 1316. The Floreycourt went on to quote the lower court with approval, stating “[t]o allow students only to studyand not to perform [religious art, literature and music when] such works . . . have developed anindependent secular and artistic significance would give students a truncated view of ourculture.” Id. (alteration in original). Of course, any student that has ideological or religiousobjections to participating in a particular performance should be excused from the assignment.

May schools display religious symbols during Christmas?

YES. This issue was directly addressed in Clever v. Cherry Hill Township, 838 F. Supp. 929(D.N.J. 1993). In Clever, the plaintiffs challenged a school policy which provided for religioussymbols to be used in school calendars and in a Christmas display. After noting the importanceof context and the absence of denominational preference, the court held the policy to beconstitutional. The court noted:Christmas and Chanukah are celebrated as cultural and national holidays as wellas religious ones, and there is simply no constitutional doctrine which wouldforbid school children from sharing in that celebration, provided that thesecelebrations do not constitute an unconstitutional endorsement of religion and areconsistent with a school’s secular educational mission.

This issue was directly addressed in Clever v. Cherry Hill Township, 838 F. Supp. 929(D.N.J. 1993). In Clever, the plaintiffs challenged a school policy which provided for religioussymbols to be used in school calendars and in a Christmas display. After noting the importanceof context and the absence of denominational preference, the court held the policy to beconstitutional. The court noted:Christmas and Chanukah are celebrated as cultural and national holidays as wellas religious ones, and there is simply no constitutional doctrine which wouldforbid school children from sharing in that celebration, provided that thesecelebrations do not constitute an unconstitutional endorsement of religion and areconsistent with a school’s secular educational mission.

Are students permitted to write about the origin of Christmas and the birthof Jesus or other religious sentiments in school assignments?

YES. Some educators have been misinformed by special interest groups that school officialsmust ban all religious speech in the public schools because of the doctrine of “separation ofchurch and state.” It is well settled, however, that private religious speech—including the speechof students—is protected by the First Amendment. In Capitol Square & Advisory Bd. v. Pinette,the Supreme Court stated:Our precedent establishes that private religious speech, far from being a FirstAmendment orphan, is as fully protected under the Free Speech Clause as secularprivate expression. Indeed, in Anglo-American history, at least, governmentsuppression of speech has so commonly been directed precisely at religiousspeech that a free-speech clause without religion would be Hamlet without theprince.515 U.S. 753, 760 (1995) (internal citationsomitted). In Mergens, the Court noted: “[T]here is acrucial difference between government speech endorsing religion, which the EstablishmentClause forbids, and private speech endorsing religion, which the Free Speech and Free ExerciseClauses protect.” 496 U.S. at 250.

. May schools continue to refer to winter and spring breaks as “Christmas”and “Easter” holidays?

YES. School districts are under no constitutional obligation to rename the Christmas and Easterholidays. The Supreme Court itself has acknowledged with approval that Congress gives federalemployees a paid holiday on December 25 and calls that holiday “Christmas.” See Lynch v.Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 675, 680 (1984); see also Ganulin v. United States, 71 F. Supp. 2d 824(S.D. Ohio 1999), aff’d, 238 F.3d 420 (6th Cir. 2000) (upholding the federal law makingChristmas a legal holiday).

School districts are under no constitutional obligation to rename the Christmas and Easterholidays. The Supreme Court itself has acknowledged with approval that Congress gives federalemployees a paid holiday on December 25 and calls that holiday “Christmas.” See Lynch v.Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 675, 680 (1984); see also Ganulin v. United States, 71 F. Supp. 2d 824(S.D. Ohio 1999), aff’d, 238 F.3d 420 (6th Cir. 2000) (upholding the federal law makingChristmas a legal holiday).

For a more extensive list and more in depth insight as to the sited court cases you may check out the websites of The American Center For Law & Justice or The Liberty Council. I just copied and pasted the highlites. Hope this helps.