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Legal Groups Advise on Constitutionality of Christmas Observances

(AgapePress) - Many public school administrators have been intimidated into believing that any mention of Christianity in their curriculum or activities is illegal, especially surrounding Christmas. But according to one Christian attorney, what the ACLU might want and what the Constitution allows are two very different things.

The chief counsel of the American Family Association's Center for Law & Policy (the Law Center) says the list of what schools can do to acknowledge the Christian faith at Christmas is much longer than the list of forbidden activities.

"You can wish people 'Merry Christmas,' you can actually include a Christmas tree in your holiday display, you can sing Christmas carols, you can hold even Christmas plays," notes attorney Steve Crampton.

What schools cannot do, says Crampton, is acknowledge the Christian aspects of a holiday like Christmas to the exclusion of other religious celebrations. More likely, he warns, is the opposite scenario, in which Christianity is the only religion excluded.

"Christianity still is the dominant religion [in America]," he points out, "and to exclude it in these kinds of celebrations -- and ... we're seeing that more and more -- is an outrage."

That is why Crampton says it is important for school administrators to get sound legal advice about their rights under the First Amendment. "Not every school attorney out there is all that well versed on the nuances of First Amendment law and, in particular, Establishment Clause concerns," he says. "[But] that's where we spend our days and nights."

Crampton says he and his legal team at the Law Center are available to answer school administrators' questions through their website. Similar advice is available at LC.org -- website for Orlando-based Liberty Counsel, which is in the midst of its fourth annual "Friend or Foe" Christmas campaign. That legal group cites recent cases in Massachusetts and Wisconsin where its intervention has caused reversal of policies that discriminated against Christmas observances.