Posted on 11/23/2004 3:17:43 PM PST by Lindykim
Web: http://www.alliancedefensefund.org Email: info@telladf.org Phone: 1-800-TELL-ADF ADF clarifies the law for New Jersey school district banning instrumental Christmas carols Release Date: 2004-11-19 Primary Category: Religious Freedom ADF Media Relations 480-444-0020 ADF clarifies the law for New Jersey school district banning instrumental Christmas carols
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J.—An attorney allied with the Alliance Defense Fund in conjunction with the New Jersey Family Policy Council delivered a letter yesterday to the superintendent of the South Orange and Maplewood School District informing him that the district's decision to ban Christmas carols, including instrumental songs, is legally unfounded.
"This sanitizing of religious expression is the result of a huge deception that Christmas is essentially forbidden in the public schools," said ADF-allied attorney Demetrios Stratis, who wrote the letter to the superintendent of schools. "No court has ever ruled that the Constitution demands school officials to censor Christmas carols, eliminate all references to Christmas, or silence those who celebrate Christmas."
The letter states that "secular groups have spread misconceptions about the legalities of Christmas celebration within public schools. As a result, many school officials have removed nearly all references to Christ from Christmas and have begun a new 'tradition' of violating the constitutional rights of students and teachers to seasonal religious expression within public schools."
The letter goes on to explain relevant law that demonstrates that the school district's policy is not only unnecessary but also amounts to an act of government censorship of religious speech. The text of the full letter is available at www.alliancedefensefund.org/media/SouthOrangeLetter.pdf.
"The fact that this policy has been in effect since the 1990s is ridiculous," Stratis said. "Christmas carols with lyrics, let alone without lyrics, are perfectly constitutional in the public schools." ADF offers free assistance to parents of public school students who believe that their First Amendment rights have been violated with regard to the celebration of Christmas. Call 1-877-TELL-ADF or visit www.telladf.org.
As part of its second annual Christmas Project, ADF has contacted over 3,600 school districts across the nation within the last month explaining the law with regard to the celebration of Christmas in the public schools (www.alliancedefensefund.org/story/?id=544) and is continuing to contact additional districts. ADF is America's largest legal alliance defending religious liberty through strategy, training, funding, and litigation. www.telladf.org
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ping
Good for them!
banning instrumentals?
I agree - would not want to risk getting "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" stuck in my head.
that would be series.
But these are liberals that they are sending this message to. And liberals don't have to do anything that doesn't coincide with their belief.
Cool.
Alliance Denfense Fund, comes through again!! Kudos to them, and Thank God
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
When I was a kid, we sang Christmas carols and Hannukah songs. I'm sure if there were Moslems in the school, we'd have sung Ramadan songs. I didn't have a problem with it.
Ping and pass this on.
Someone needs to initiate a nation-wide campaign to set the record straight - there is NO Constitutional provision for the separation of Church and State.
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