A public school in Michigan has launched a campaign that focuses on the “decentering” of Christmas that would include bans on holiday symbols, decorations and expression, even colors.
And a premier legal team, Liberty Counsel, is calling them out.
“We write to demand that Holt Public Schools … retract the unconstitutional bans on Christmas symbols, decorations and expression set forth in the ‘Winter Celebrations Communications FAQ,” the legal team told the district in a letter to Sup. David Hornak.
It also insists on the retracting of a “Decentering Christmas … Racial justice Guide.”
Liberty Counsel said its “demand letter” was a result of “multiple complaints from teachers.”
“Instead of being ‘inclusive,’ these directives are rooted in Critical Race Theory and promote a hatred for and discriminate against Christianity and associated holidays, such as Christmas. They violate school policy, the First Amendment and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by showing hostility on the basis of religion and on the basis of race,” Liberty Counsel charged.
The “Holiday Celebrations” email was from the district’s then-Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Matt Morales, who claimed, “Many students, teachers, and staff may express excitement during the upcoming weeks as we look forward to having an extended break and possibly engaging in holiday activities. While this may be an exciting time for many people, others may lack a sense of belonging. As we continue our commitment toward creating a more inclusive learning community with intentional equity work, I want to provide additional opportunities for reflection and growth. Therefore, I ask that you review the meaning of Decentering Christmas and the reflection questions provided below. While reviewing this material, please understand that a diverse display of non-religious celebrations demonstrates support for the winter season and the importance of community.”
His messaging charged that teachers should “dismantle the hierarchy of religious practices and holidays,” and ask themselves “How might you be centering your own traditions and beliefs?”
And “recommended resources” included the leftist “Racial Justice Guide to the Winter Holiday Season for Educators and Families” and “Christian Privilege, Hegemony, and the Winter Holiday Season,” as well as resources on Islam and the holiday season.
Some of those were called, “Dear White People, the Holiday Season is the Best Time to Tell Our Grandparents To Stop Being Racist” and “Why is Santa Claus Always White?”
Liberty Counsel explained, “The email posits ‘opportunities for reflection and growth’ claiming on the one hand that ‘Decentering Christmas’ does not mean ‘canceling’ Christmas but instead eliminating any positive aspects of Christmas (and any reference to ‘Christmas’) under the guise of ‘dismantling the hierarchy of religious practices and holidays.’ The email also claims ‘non-religious’ aspects of the holiday such as Elf on the Shelf, Santa, and decorated trees ‘are actually centered on Christian beliefs and practices’ and even these secular aspects must also be eliminated. The email promotes racism and discrimination based on ethnicity, ancestry, color, and Marxism and communicates that Christianity, Christmas, and ‘whiteness’ are problems to be remedied. Decorations deemed ‘religious’ by the school district including Christmas trees and the colors red and green must be eliminated in favor of ‘a tree that is winter themed or has plain light bulbs.’”
The legal team noted, “These anti-Christian, anti-Christmas, and race-based directives are not only inconsistent with school board policies, they are also unlawful especially considering three recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Shurtleff v. City of Boston, Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, and Groff v. DeJoy.
“These three cases ruled that it is unlawful to censor religious expression, buried the ‘Lemon Test’ formerly used to remove religious symbols and displays from the public square, and strengthened Title VII protections for employees regarding religious discrimination.”
The letter described Liberty Counsel’s victory in Shurtleff at the Supreme Court, which said Boston “violated the First Amendment by censoring a private flag in a public forum open to ‘all applicants’ merely because the application referred to it as a ‘Christian flag.’ According to the court’s reasoning in Shurtleff, a city then cannot encourage employees to decorate spaces for holidays at employee discretion and then censor religious viewpoints on the holiday.”
“These absurd directives violate the First Amendment and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by showing hostility on the basis of religion and race. The First Amendment does not permit public schools to eliminate traditional Christmas holiday symbols or expression associated with a federal and state holiday under the guise of being ‘inclusive,’” charged Liberty Counsel chief Mat Staver. “The First Amendment also does not permit school administrators to promote racism to staff and students; nor does the First Amendment or Title VII permit the public schools to demean people on the basis of race. Holt Public Schools must retract and rescind their unconstitutional directives and comply with the law.”
IMPORTANT NOTE TO WND READERS: Shortly after Hamas terrorists fired over 5,000 rockets from Gaza into Israel on Oct. 7 and then proceeded to attack the Jewish state by land, sea and air – torturing, burning, beheading and murdering well over a thousand people, including women, children and infants, and wounding and abducting hundreds more – world reaction was, in its own way, almost equally shocking.
For after the biggest one-day mass slaughter of Jews since the Nazi Holocaust, what followed was an outpouring of celebratory demonstrations, unbridled Jew-hatred, deliriously gleeful support for Hamas and bitter condemnation of the nation of Israel. Not just in the Arab-Muslim world, but throughout the Western world as well, including all across America.
Why? What is behind the explosion of anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, pro-terror sentiment in the United States, where Israel has long been one of America’s closest friends and allies? Why are hordes of young “woke” LGBT demonstrators marching in support of Hamas – when Hamas wouldn’t think twice about binding and blindfolding them and throwing them off the roof of a tall building – as they routinely do in the Muslim world?
It turns out there’s one area of agreement that is so powerful, deep-seated and all-consuming that the vast differences between the deranged left and the murderous jihadists melt away into Kumbaya harmony.
All of this and much more is completely exposed in November’s issue of WND’s critically acclaimed monthly Whistleblower magazine, titled ISRAEL VS. GLOBAL JIHAD: How Jew-hatred, radical Islam and Leftism are pushing us toward World War III. Beyond a deeply insightful dive into why leftists are surging toward radical Islam – which hates and dreams of raping and butchering them – this Whistleblower issue includes fantastic articles by everyone from top Israeli analyst (and former Israel Defense Forces officer) Caroline Glick to Harvest Christian Fellowship’s Pastor Greg Laurie on the current war in Israel and biblical prophecies regarding the End Times … which he says are now upon us.
WHISTLEBLOWER is available in both the popular print edition and a state-of-the-art digital version, either single issues or discounted annual subscriptions.
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