Monday, December 20, 2004
Christmas fights back #3
County officials in Florida have reversed a decision that banned display of Christmas trees in public facilities, including libraries, recreation centers and community centers. Pasco County, north of Tampa, made the reversal 24 hours after the American Center for Law and Justice sent a letter to officials. "We are pleased that the county admitted its mistake and reversed its legally flawed decision removing Christmas trees from county facilities," said ACLJ chief counsel Jay Sekulow. "The law is very clear about this issue -- the display of Christmas trees is constitutional and the county had no legal basis in removing them."
Elsewhere: In a dramatic about-face, a Wisconsin school district has reversed its decision to bar high school students from handing out Christmas cards containing the story of the religious origins of the candy cane. The reversal derailed a federal lawsuit at the last minute. District Superintendent David Shapley initially told five members of a high school Christian student club that the card could not be passed out to their classmates because of its religious message. As explained in the card, the candy cane was shaped like a "J" to represent the name of Jesus. "The color white stands for the pureness of Jesus. The color red represents the blood of Jesus shed for us," the card read, concluding with a "Merry Christmas" wish to the reader. Permission to distribute the card was first denied by Principal Cassandra Schug, and then by Shapley. The five students sought legal advice from Liberty Counsel, which received no response from the district school board to a faxed letter earlier this month. The legal firm began to prepare a lawsuit, and planned to file that lawsuit on the morning of December 14. But Liberty Counsel president Mat Staver says the district backed down at the eleventh hour.
In Chicago, a Nativity scene has been given police protection after a life-sized model of the infant Christ was briefly stolen before being recovered earlier this month. In the Oklahoma City suburb of Mustang, voters angered by a school board's decision to remove a Nativity scene from a school play demonstrated their fury at the ballot box last week. They rejected the board's plans to raise $11 million (£5.7 million) by issuing bonds. Also last week, a court challenge began in New York to overturn a policy that allows the Jewish menorah and Islamic crescent and star to be displayed in schools, but forbids Nativity scenes.
County officials in Florida have reversed a decision that banned display of Christmas trees in public facilities, including libraries, recreation centers and community centers. Pasco County, north of Tampa, made the reversal 24 hours after the American Center for Law and Justice sent a letter to officials. "We are pleased that the county admitted its mistake and reversed its legally flawed decision removing Christmas trees from county facilities," said ACLJ chief counsel Jay Sekulow. "The law is very clear about this issue -- the display of Christmas trees is constitutional and the county had no legal basis in removing them."
Elsewhere: In a dramatic about-face, a Wisconsin school district has reversed its decision to bar high school students from handing out Christmas cards containing the story of the religious origins of the candy cane. The reversal derailed a federal lawsuit at the last minute. District Superintendent David Shapley initially told five members of a high school Christian student club that the card could not be passed out to their classmates because of its religious message. As explained in the card, the candy cane was shaped like a "J" to represent the name of Jesus. "The color white stands for the pureness of Jesus. The color red represents the blood of Jesus shed for us," the card read, concluding with a "Merry Christmas" wish to the reader. Permission to distribute the card was first denied by Principal Cassandra Schug, and then by Shapley. The five students sought legal advice from Liberty Counsel, which received no response from the district school board to a faxed letter earlier this month. The legal firm began to prepare a lawsuit, and planned to file that lawsuit on the morning of December 14. But Liberty Counsel president Mat Staver says the district backed down at the eleventh hour.
In Chicago, a Nativity scene has been given police protection after a life-sized model of the infant Christ was briefly stolen before being recovered earlier this month. In the Oklahoma City suburb of Mustang, voters angered by a school board's decision to remove a Nativity scene from a school play demonstrated their fury at the ballot box last week. They rejected the board's plans to raise $11 million (£5.7 million) by issuing bonds. Also last week, a court challenge began in New York to overturn a policy that allows the Jewish menorah and Islamic crescent and star to be displayed in schools, but forbids Nativity scenes.
