School Cuts Christmas to Appease Muslim Families

Christmas, Religious Freedom, , ,

magi2As the Christmas season starts earlier and earlier each year, so does the “War on Christmas.” This week, Todd Starnes brings us a story out of Maryland, where school officials have decided to cut “Christmas” from the school calendar in order to appease Muslim families.

Starnes writes,

As of next year – all Christian and Jewish holidays will be removed from the calendar. That means no more Christmas, no more Easter and no more Yom Kippur.

There’s no word on whether the board will remove the Irish from St. Patrick’s Day or the love from St. Valentine’s Day or the trees from Arbor Day.

For years local Muslims had been urging the district to close schools for two of their holidays. Many gathered outside the school board offices holding signs like ‘Support Equality for Eid’ and ‘Because…our children matter too.’

Instead, the school board opted to eliminate all religious holidays.

This really doesn’t have as much to do with the fact that the school district is trying to appease Muslims as it does with the school district’s actions. Atheist groups, lately, have made it a habit to target schools this time of year over Christmas and Thanksgiving activities. The fact that the protesters in this case were Muslims isn’t the issue; it’s the fact that the school district is trying to secularize the holidays we celebrate.

Holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas are recognized and celebrated by the federal government. Government offices close because the government honors these days. Both holidays have religious roots, but courts have ruled time and time again that recognizing them does not run afoul of the U.S. Constitution. In fact, even public schools are free to join in the Christmas spirit.

If people don’t like the fact that the government celebrates Christmas–or if they want other holidays added to the federal government’s calendar–then they ought to take their complaints to Congress instead of the local school board. After all, Congress and the President are the ones who actually identify federal holidays.

If the President of the United States gets to celebrate Christmas, a local school board shouldn’t be able to stop schoolchildren in Maryland from celebrating it as well.

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NC Judges Resign Rather Than Perform Same-Sex “Marriages”

Religious Freedom, , ,

At least half a dozen family court magistrates have resigned in North Carolina after being told they must solemnize same-sex “marriages.”

Magistrates John Kallam, Gilbert Breedlove, Bill Stevenson, Tommy Holland, Gayle Myrick, and Jeff Powell have all tendered their resignation. Bill Stevenson told NBC,

“It was something I had to do out of conscience. I felt like to perform same-sex unions would be in violation of the Lord’s commands, so I couldn’t do that.”

Last month Gilbert Breedlove told reporters,

“[Resigning] was my only option. We were directed we had to perform the marriages, and that was just something I couldn’t do because of my religious beliefs.”

It has been speculated that other judges in North Carolina have decided to retire or resign for similar reasons, although they have not publicly given an explanation. According to Christian News, some North Carolina magistrates have said they simply will refuse to perform same-sex weddings–which could lead to their dismissal or litigation.

When Massachusetts became the first state to recognize same-sex marriage in 2004, many did not believe redefining marriage could ever affect people of faith. Ten years later the consequences are becoming all too clear. More and more everyday citizens are finding themselves in the difficult position of either violating their conscience or violating the law.

We have said before that as Americans we have an obligation to respect each others’ conscience. No one should have to choose between their job and their religious convictions.

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4 Things You Need to Know About the “Hitching Post” Case

Religious Freedom,

We have written recently about two ministers (Mr. and Mrs. Knapp)  in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, who face the prospect of fines and jail time for failing to permit a same-sex wedding at their wedding chapel.

Same-sex marriage became legal in Idaho a few weeks ago when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal over a lower court ruling striking the state’s marriage laws. According to attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom–who is representing the ministers–city officials told the pair multiple times that their wedding chapel would be required to perform same-sex weddings. The ministers filed suit against the city. Now the city is backing off, saying that because the wedding chapel is a nonprofit entity, they won’t be required to perform same-sex weddings after all.

There’s just one problem, ADF writes: The Hitching Post Wedding Chapel is not non-profit. It is a for-profit chapel. In fact, ADF says there are four things that need to be set straight about this case concerning religious liberty:

  1. The Hitching Post is a for-profit corporation, and it always has been.
  2. The city, on at least three separate occasions, made clear that because the Hitching Post is a for-profit company the Knapps would be in violation of the law and subject to criminal prosecution and punishment if they declined to perform same-sex marriages.
  3. The lawsuit is not premature.
  4. Idaho’s religious freedom laws should protect the ministers and their business.

This is a critical case for religious liberty in America. The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in the Hobby Lobby case makes it clear that business owners do not forfeit religious liberty by entering the marketplace. In America, you are not only free to engage in business, but to do so in a manor consistent with your deeply-held convictions.

To read ADF’s full article “setting the record straight” on the situation in Coeur d’Alene, click here.

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