WINNING THE “WAR ON CHRISTMAS”

Thomas More Society defends private citizens’ right to freely express religion in public square

Springfield, IL Nativity

(November 25, 2014 – Chicago, IL) – For the eighth year in a row, all visitors to the Illinois State Capitol Rotunda during this coming month of December will encounter a beautiful Nativity Scene – statues of Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus nestled within a small stable. For 30 years, a Nativity Scene has graced Daley Plaza in Chicago. This year, the Capitol buildings in eight other states, namely, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin, will also house a Nativity Scene sponsored by private citizens around Christmas-time, and another Nativity Scene will be featured on the lawn outside the Governor’s Mansion in Oklahoma City, OK.

The nativity displays represent classic free speech and free exercise of religion by private citizens in the public square. The nativity scenes, however, have not gone up without controversy.

“Atheist groups may mock our message, but we will not be silent,” said Tom Brejcha, Thomas More Society president and chief counsel. “Anti-Christian, anti-Christmas expositions merely serve to highlight by stark contrast the positive, uplifting, hopeful and joyous message of Christmas.”

Thirty years ago, a lawsuit had to be filed to protect the Nativity Scene (and to prevent physical destruction of the statues) on Daley Plaza, when city and county officials nearly shut down Christians’ expression of their religion in that traditional public forum. However, the free speech rights of Christians to proclaim their faith in public prevailed when the late Chief U.S. District Judge James B. Parsons enjoined the authorities from discriminating against religious expression on Daley Plaza where political rallies were regularly held.

The nativity displays represent a constitutionally protected expression by private citizens in traditional or designated public forums, where the sole role of the government must be that of a viewpoint-neutral gatekeeper assuring open access for all citizens to have their “say.” Such private expressions of religious belief in the public squares of our nation are not merely tolerable but fully deserving of robust legal protection.

Government is neither censor nor endorser of such religious speech. The Christmas nativity display is privately funded and sponsored, bereft of any government aid or endorsement, and therefore it is clothed and armored with the full protection of the First Amendment of our U.S. Constitution.

“The First Amendment protects religious speech, equally as political speech,” added Brejcha. “If you can get up on your soapbox and plead for a candidate or point of view in a public forum, then equally you may get on the soapbox and proclaim the joyous, hopeful message of the Christ Child!”

Thomas More Society is legal counsel for the American Nativity Scene Committee and local private groups around the country. The Society has been defending and equipping Americans to display nativity scenes in their own State Capitols and in other traditional and designated public forums. This year, along with the American Nativity Scene Committee, Thomas More Society is co-sponsoring the nativity displays – which have been donated by an anonymous benefactor – in the State Capitols of Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Rhode Island, and Texas, and adding more State Capitol buildings every year.

Anyone interested in sponsoring a Nativity Scene in their own State Capitol may contact the Thomas More Society at 312-782-1680 or info@thomasmoresociety.org.

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