Is the ACLU against Christmas or other religious holidays?
PRO (yes)
CON (no)
Bill O'Reilly wrote in his Dec. 7, 2002 column for Townhall.com, "Somewhere Santa Is Weeping":
"The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has put the fear of God, uh, pardon me, the fear of 'a higher power that may or may not exist' into schools and towns all across America....
Even though Christmas is a federal holiday, we can't really be discussing the meaning of the day because of sensitivity concerns. Is this insane or what? The reason that ... other places across the country are so frightened of a day that is designed to promote generosity and peace on earth is that Jesus Christ is involved. Jesus, you see, is not acceptable in the public discourse, according to the ACLU and other misguided groups.
Somewhere, Santa Claus is weeping. But if he's on public property, I hope the ACLU doesn't get him for trespassing."
John Gibson, author of The War on Christmas, stated in a Dec. 5, 2005 interview with Pat Robertson for Christian Broadcasting Network that:
"[S]ince about the 1820s, Christmas has been, the one we know today, a religious holiday celebrated in the home as a family event around children, and that’s the American tradition of Christmas. And that’s what these people [the ACLU] are trying to suppress...
They want Christianity indoors. They want you to go in your church and close the door. They want you to go in your home and close the door. They don’t want any public expression of it, and they’re quite articulate on that point. They don’t try to hide it. That’s what they want."
The Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation's founding members, Jackie Mason and Raoul Felder, in their Dec. 9, 2005 article "Christmas, Let It Be," published in American Spectator , wrote that:
"The ACLU is an organization supported by many liberal Jews and is in the forefront of efforts for a public suppression of Christmas...
It is significant that the ACLU's position is that pornography is protected under the Constitution, while the Christmas tree is not. So, if this bunch were successful, the only way you could see a Christmas tree is if you visit a porn shop that had one."
Alan Sears, president of the Alliance Defense Fund, stated in a Nov. 15, 2006 press release:
"Frankly, it's ridiculous that Americans have to think twice about whether it's okay to say Merry Christmas. Thanks to the ACLU and its allies, Christmas isn't what it used to be. It's time to repair the damage that such organizations have done to America's favorite holiday. An overwhelming majority of Americans oppose censoring Christmas.
It's a sad day in America when you have to retain an attorney to wish someone a Merry Christmas. The fear, intimidation, and disinformation spread by the ACLU and its allies over the years will not be changed overnight. That's why ADF wants to dispel the myths about religious expression at Christmastime that have prompted wrongful acts of government censorship of religious speech."
The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) in a Nov. 28, 2006 online article, "The ACLU Targets Christmas," wrote that:
"The ACLU is at it again. With an outrageous boldness that only they could muster, the ACLU has, once again, set their sights on Christmas celebrations. In their never-ending quest to completely eradicate all things religious from public life, the ACLU’s latest lawsuit is an all-out frontal attack on the freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion.
Let me ask you—when did a children’s Christmas program become 'an illegal activity'? When did the nativity story and Christmas songs become unconstitutional? This is the outrageous and dangerous charge the ACLU has leveled against a school district in Tennessee. A children’s Christmas program has been deemed to be an 'illegal act' because of the ACLU.
Today the American Center for Law and Justice has launched a nationwide campaign entitled 'Keep HIM in Christmas.' We want to make sure that Jesus is at the center of this holiday. We want to keep HIM in the nativity scenes, keep HIM in the music, keep HIM as the focal point—and not allow the ACLU to operate as our nationwide censor."
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) emailed a statement to ProCon.org on Dec. 23, 2005:
"Of course the ACLU is not 'against' any religion or religious holiday. In fact the ACLU often defends the First Amendment rights of religious persons and institutions to practice their religion without government interference.
Controversies arise when some wish to promote their favored religious symbols on government property... Homes, businesses, community groups and churches are free to have whatever religious displays they like. Government space, however, belongs to everyone. The First Amendment requires the government to treat all religions equally and to show no preference towards religious people or non-religious people. The First Amendment has allowed many religions to flourish and helped the U.S. avoid many of the religious conflicts that have torn apart other nations.
The ACLU strongly promotes the rights of individuals and religious communities to express their religious beliefs, but recognizes that governments should never become the vehicles for the promotion of one group's religious beliefs and that government property should not be used for the promotion of religion or non-religion unless it is made available for all beliefs on an equal basis."
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Dec. 7, 2005 posted on its website the article "How the ACLU Didn't Steal Christmas" by Fran Quigley, Executive Director of the ACLU of Indiana, who wrote:
"When the angry phone calls and emails started arriving at the office, I knew the holiday season was upon us.... We get this type of correspondence a lot, mostly in reaction to a well-organized attempt by extremist groups to demonize the ACLU, crush religious diversity, and make a few bucks in the process. Sadly, this self-interested effort is being promoted in the guise of defending Christmas....
In truth, it is these website Christians who are taking the Christ out of the season. Nowhere in the Sermon on the Mount did Jesus Christ ask that we celebrate His birth with narrow-mindedness and intolerance, especially for those who are already marginalized and persecuted. Instead, the New Testament—like the Torah and the Koran and countless other sacred texts—commands us to love our neighbor, and to comfort the sick and the imprisoned.
That's what the ACLU does.... As part of our justice mission, we work hard to protect the rights of free religious expression for all people, including Christians.... [T]he ACLU is committed to preserving the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom for all."
T. Jeremy Gunn, PhD, JD, Director of the Freedom of Religion and Belief program at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), wrote in the Dec. 18, 2005 "A Fictional 'War on Christmas'" in USA Today that:
"This year, several groups are once again introducing the Christmas season with some heated and misleading military rhetoric... One particularly bizarre charge is that there is 'a thorough and virulent anti-Christmas campaign.' Without a shred of evidence, they pretend that there is an effort afoot to remove 'God' from the Declaration of Independence. Two groups even announced that they have assembled hundreds of lawyers to protect Christmas against this imaginary threat...
And finally, as a seasonal greeting to all Christians: Merry Christmas from the ACLU! And for believers in all other traditions: Thank you for enriching our world!"
Michelle Goldberg, Senior Writer at Salon.com, wrote in the Nov. 21, 2005 article "How The Secular Humanist Grinch Didn't Steal Christmas":
"In fact, there is no war on Christmas. What there is, rather, is a burgeoning myth of a war on Christmas, assembled out of old reactionary tropes, urban legends, exaggerated anecdotes and increasingly organized hostility to the American Civil Liberties Union. It's a myth that can be self-fulfilling, as school board members and local politicians believe the false conservative claim that they can't celebrate Christmas without getting sued by the ACLU...
Ironically, when school officials do go too far, the ACLU is likely to challenge them, on the grounds that the government can neither promote nor restrict religious speech. 'A lot of the things the ACLU does to help religious people and religious students are not high-profile cases; they don't get much attention,' says [Charles] Haynes [senior scholar at the First Amendment Center]...."
