Constitutional
Q&A: The Twelve Rules of Christmas © 2018 The Rutherford Institute
1. Q: May
public school students speak about Christmas at school? A: Public school
students’ written or spoken personal expressions concerning the religious
significance of Christmas (e.g., T-shirts with the slogan, “Jesus Is the Reason
for the Season”) may not be censored by school officials absent evidence that
the speech would cause a substantial disruption of the orderly operation of the
school.
2. Q: Are
public school teachers forbidden from celebrating the holiday at work? A: So
long as teachers are generally permitted to wear clothing or jewelry or have
personal items expressing their views about the holidays, teachers may not be
prohibited from similarly expressing their views by wearing Christmas-related
clothing or jewelry or carrying Christmas-related personal items.6
3. Q: May
students be taught about Christmas? A: Public schools may teach students about
the Christmas holiday, including its religious significance, so long as it is
taught objectively for secular purposes such as its historical or cultural
importance, and not for the purpose of promoting Christianity.7
4. Q: Are
teachers allowed to send holiday cards or gifts to their students or their
students’ families? A: Public school teachers may send Christmas cards and
gifts to the families of their students so long as they do so on their own
time, outside of school hours.8
5. Q: Is
Christmas music prohibited in schools? A: Public schools may include Christmas
music, including those with religious themes, in their choral programs if the
songs are included for a secular purpose such as their musical quality or
cultural value or if the songs are part of an overall performance including
other holiday songs relating to Chanukah, Kwanzaa, or other similar holidays.9
6. Q:
What if a student does not believe in or celebrate Christmas? A: Public schools
may not require students to sing Christmas songs whose messages conflict with
the students’ own religious or nonreligious beliefs.10
7. Q: May
students give out Christmas cards at school? A: Public school students may not
be prohibited from distributing literature to fellow students concerning the
Christmas holiday or invitations to church Christmas events on the same terms
that they would be allowed to distribute other literature that is not related
to schoolwork.11
8. Q: Are
people allowed to put up Christmas displays in parks? A: Private citizens or
groups may display crèches or other Christmas symbols in public parks subject
to the same reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions that would apply to
other similar displays.12
9. Q: Is
a city or town prohibited from sponsoring a holiday display? A: Government
entities may erect and maintain celebrations of the Christmas holiday, such as
Christmas trees and Christmas light displays, and may include crèches in their
Constitutional Q&A: The Twelve Rules of Christmas © 2018 The Rutherford
Institute displays at least so long as the purpose for including the crèche is
not to promote its religious content and it is placed in context with other
symbols of the Holiday season as part of an effort to celebrate the public
Christmas holiday through its traditional symbols.13
10. Q:
Can my employer prohibit me from celebrating Christmas while on the job? A:
Neither public nor private employers may prevent employees from decorating
their offices for Christmas, playing Christmas music, or wearing clothing
related to Christmas merely because of their religious content so long as these
activities are not used to harass or intimidate other employees.14
11. Q:
Can my employer require me to work on Christmas? A: Public or private employees
whose sincerely held religious beliefs require that they not work on Christmas
must be reasonably accommodated by their employers unless granting the
accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the employer.15
12. Q: If
the Constitution requires a “separation of church and state,” why is Christmas
a national holiday? A: Courts have routinely held that government recognition
of Christmas as a public holiday and granting government employees a paid
holiday for Christmas does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First
Amendment. The government has a valid secular interest in providing a day of
rest to citizens and may accommodate the religious beliefs of citizens in doing
so.
Should
you have further questions or need legal assistance in exercising your
constitutional rights, please contact the Legal Department at
legal@rutherford.org. 1 The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties
organization based in Charlottesville, Va.
T H E R U
T H E R F O R D I N S T I T U T E Post Office Box 7482 Charlottesville,
Virginia 22906-7482 JOHN W. WHITEHEAD Founder and President TELEPHONE 434 / 978
- 3888 FACSIMILE 434/ 978 – 1789 www.ruth
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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