This was not the mother’s first trip to her child’s classroom,
where parents regularly volunteered to lead story time. Because it coincided
with the holiday season, she thought the ideal story to tell would be
the original Christmas story that began nearly 2,000 years ago. But
she remembered the memo.
Sent weeks earlier, it was a stern reminder by the school principal
that children in public schools could not celebrate Christmas. The sensitive
kindergarten teacher added in her own handwriting, “It’s that
old ‘separation of church and state’ thing.”
While the children seemed to enjoy A Pocket for Corduroy, the mother
felt a certain injustice in her eventual decision to change her choice
of books. There was no reason the children should not have been allowed
to hear a story about the first Christmas. But she had given up the
fight long ago when, after generating a few ripples when her first child
was going through school, well-meaning family and friends had advised
her to be a help, not a hindrance, to her child’s education.
Unfortunately, far too many parents, students and teachers think they
cannot do anything to celebrate Christmas in the public schools. Whether
it is ignorance or fear, Americans are painfully misguided about the
recognition of religious holidays. Ironically, the most targeted religious
holiday for exclusion is Christmas—also the most popular in American
culture.
Are children really forbidden from learning about one of the most culturally
significant events because it is religious? For that matter, are adults
forbidden at work or in public places to celebrate the religious aspects
of Christmas?
The truth is simply that no, they are not. In fact, there are constitutionally
sound principles that, if followed, will allow the religious significance
of Christmas to be celebrated and taught. The following twelve rules
are offered:
1. Public school students’ written or spoken personal expressions
concerning the religious significance of Christmas (e.g., T-shirts with
the slogan “Jesus is the Reason for the Season”) may not be
censored by school officials absent evidence that the speech would cause
a substantial disruption.
2. So long as teachers are generally permitted to wear clothing or
jewelry or have personal items expressing their views about the holidays,
Christian teachers may not be prohibited from similarly expressing their
views by wearing Christmas-related clothing or jewelry or carrying Christmas-related
personal items.
3. Public schools may teach students about the Christmas holiday, including
its religious significance, so long as it is taught objectively and
for its historical or cultural importance and not for the purpose of
promoting Christianity.
4. Public school teachers may send Christmas cards to the families
of their students so long as they do so on their own time, outside of
school hours.
5. Public schools may include Christmas music, including those with
religious themes, in their choral programs if the songs are included
for their musical quality or cultural value or if the songs are part
of an overall performance including other holiday songs relating to
Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or other similar holidays.
6. Public schools may not require students to sing Christmas songs
whose messages conflict with the students’ own religious or nonreligious
beliefs.
7. Public school students may not be prohibited from distributing literature
to fellow students concerning the Christmas holiday or invitations to
church Christmas events on the same terms that they would be allowed
to distribute other literature that is not related to schoolwork.
8. Private citizens or groups may display crèches or other Christmas
symbols in public parks subject to the same reasonable time, place and
manner restrictions that would apply to other similar displays.
9. Government entities may erect and maintain celebrations of the Christmas
holiday, such as Christmas trees and Christmas light displays, and may
include crèches in their displays—at least so long as such
items are placed in context with other symbols of the holiday season
as part of an effort to celebrate the public Christmas holiday through
its traditional symbols.
10. Neither public nor private employers may prevent employees from
decorating their offices for Christmas, playing Christmas music or wearing
clothing related to Christmas merely because of their religious content
so long as these activities are not used to harass or intimidate others.
11. Public or private employees whose sincerely-held beliefs require
that they not work on Christmas must be reasonably accommodated by their
employers unless granting the accommodation would impose an undue hardship
on the employer.
12. Government recognition of Christmas as a public holiday and granting
government employees a paid holiday for Christmas does not violate the
law.
We must remember that those who founded this country and established
the freedoms we still cherish were a religious people, and they passed
these traditions down to us. Hopefully, we will not be too timid to
continue their legacy of freedom.
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and
president of The Rutherford Institute. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.