War on Christmas – Family Council

Atheist Displays Placed Alongside Nativity Scene at Arkansas Capitol

Dec 23, 2024Jerry CoxChristmasAtheism, Christmas, Featured Content, FFRF, War on Christmas

*Above: One of the atheist displays placed near the Nativity on the Arkansas Capitol lawn.*

This month the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers placed atheist “winter solstice” displays on the state capitol lawn.

The atheist displays appear alongside the state’s longstanding Nativity display carved by Arkansas artisans and another atheist display by the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s display celebrates the winter solstice and the Bill of Rights, and the freethinkers’ display celebrates atheism and atheist organizations, among other things.

In 2009 a federal judge in Little Rock ruled Arkansas’ Secretary of State was obligated to allow a local group of atheists to put up a display marking the winter solstice on the capitol grounds.

The Secretary of State and the Arkansas Legislature likely could prevent these types of displays from appearing on the capitol grounds each December by redesignating its lawn as a limited public forum intended to celebrate state and federal holidays like Christmas.

The irony is that America’s Bill of Rights — which the Freedom From Religion Foundation display celebrates — is the product of a Judeo-Christian worldview.

For example, historians have long recognized the Ten Commandments as one of the earliest examples of the rule of law in human history, and they profoundly shaped our nation’s legal system and ideas about justice.

That’s why there is a carving of Moses holding the Ten Commandments at the apex of the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C.

The Christian understandings of personal liberty, self-government, and rule of law were woven into the founding of our country. Without the birth of Christ, the Bill of Rights arguably never would have been born either.

As Founding Father John Adams put it in 1798, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Or as President Ronald Reagan said at the 1984 Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast in Dallas, Texas:

Without God, there is no virtue, because there’s no prompting of the conscience. Without God, we’re mired in the material, that flat world that tells us only what the senses perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.

*The Nativity Scene above adorns Arkansas’ Capitol Lawn each year.*

Most Americans Support Christmas Celebrations in Public Schools

Dec 20, 2024Jerry CoxChristmasChristmas, Featured Content, War on Christmas

Public opinion polling shows most Americans believe public school students ought to be able to celebrate Christmas.

Rasmussen Reports’ latest national survey found 68% of American adults believe Christmas should be celebrated in public schools. That figure is down slightly from a little over a decade ago, but on the whole it’s clear Americans overwhelmingly support Christmas celebrations.

These poll numbers come despite decades of work by groups like the Freedom From Religion Foundation who want to block Christmas displays and celebrations on public school campuses and elsewhere.

But courts have said that schools and local governments can celebrate Christmas — including by placing Nativity scenes and similar decorations on public property.

The U.S. Constitution lets public school students celebrate Christmas. And most Americans approve of Christmas celebrations at school. That’s a good thing.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

Atheist Displays Placed Alongside Nativity at Arkansas Capitol

Dec 21, 2023Jerry CoxReligious FreedomChristianity, Christmas, Religious Freedom, War on Christmas

This week the Freedom From Religion Foundation announced atheists in Arkansas placed a “Winter Solstice” display on the Arkansas Capitol Lawn proclaiming “Joy To The World — The Bill of Rights is Born” and advocating, “Keep religion and government separate!”

The atheist display appears alongside the state’s longstanding Nativity display carved by Arkansas artisans and another atheist display by the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers.

In 2009 a federal judge in Little Rock ruled Arkansas’ Secretary of State was obligated to allow a local group of atheists to put up a display marking the winter solstice on the Capitol grounds.

The irony is that America’s Bill of Rights — which the Freedom From Religion Foundation display celebrates — is the product of a Judeo-Christian worldview.

That’s why there is a carving of Moses holding the Ten Commandments at the apex of the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C.

The Christian understandings of personal liberty, self-government, and rule of law were woven into the founding of our country. Without the birth of Christ, the Bill of Rights arguably never would have been born either.

As Founding Father John Adams put it in 1798, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Or as President Ronald Reagan said at the 1984 Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast in Dallas, Texas:

Without God, there is no virtue, because there’s no prompting of the conscience. Without God, we’re mired in the material, that flat world that tells us only what the senses perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.