Alliance Defense Fund attorneys sent a letter to federal and state officials, including Arizona Governor Janice Brewer Monday, calling for them to stop enforcing a requirement prohibiting the state’s schoolchildren from expressing religious viewpoints through Christmas themes while decorating ornaments for the 2009 Capitol Christmas Tree. Arizona was chosen this year to present 4,000 handcrafted ornaments made by elementary, middle-school, and high-school students to decorate Washington, D.C.’s annual Christmas tree.“Banning Christmas from the Capitol Christmas tree is just absurd. Christian students shouldn’t be discriminated against for expressing their religious beliefs,” said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Jonathan Scruggs. “The First Amendment does not allow government officials to exclude schoolchildren’s ornaments for the capitol’s Christmas tree merely because they communicate a religious viewpoint.”
Guidelines for the ornaments include specifications for their size, weight, composition, and the directive that “Ornaments cannot reflect a religious or political theme… Instead share your interpretation of our theme ‘Arizona’s Gift, from the Grand Canyon State.’” It is also stated that the ornaments “will provide wonderful opportunities for Arizona school children to demonstrate what Arizona means to them… Whether they represent our world-renowned landscapes, our diverse cultures, or other aspects of our state, the ornaments will help convey the particular beauty that is Arizona.” But, if students want to convey that Arizona has a religious significance to them, they are denied the opportunity offered to students with non-religious views. Alliance Defense Fund
Catholic Femina Speaks: I have been saying for a while that President Obama is not Christian... I know that he has claimed to be searching for a church to attend, but he has been in DC for quite sometime there is no excuse. Obama has a history of lying. The Children of Arizona have been asked to create ornaments for a Christmas Tree giving their personal take on Christmas without the true meaning of Christmas. After removing Jesus and the Christmas story all that remains is materialism. The ADF is asking for diversity? What is that suppose to mean, Christmas is a Christian holiday and they are not allowed to display Christ... Diversity is now a term for the exclusion of Christians. Arizona is going to have a difficult time representing anything that remotely resembles Christmas without the reason for the season.
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The previous president did not regularly attend a church in DC either. Does that mean he is not a Christian as well?
ReplyDeleteObama isn't keeping Christ out of Christmas. The title of the article does not accurately reflect it's content. I could see if you said Arizona Govenor Jan Brewer or Arizona state and federal officials want to keep Christ out of Christmas, but not Obama. This article is basically your opinion and a hate article towards Obama. It would serve your readers well if you provided your sources where you got your information. That way your readers could research the facts regarding this matter rather than accepting your false accusations towards Obama as truth.
ReplyDeleteCannot admire a man who would refuse to have Christ honored in the ornaments for a Christmas tree. Christmas is a celebration of CHRIST'S birth and is not to be celebrated in any other way. If you care not to believe, then don't. But, begrudging others an expression of their beliefs is entirely wrong.
ReplyDeleteThe traditions and celebrations of Christmas go much further back than Christianity. The Catholic Church appropriated customs from other cultures and religions, and Christ's Mass began quite late in the Catholic festival calendar.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.holidays.net/christmas/story.htm
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03724b.htm
It is interesting that anyone should say that Christmas a holiday about Christ was started before Christ.... it is true that celebrations during the winter were a common practice, but Christmas customs and celebrations were started by Christians for the rememberance of the birth of Christ.
ReplyDelete