Attorney Advises Christian Teachers Caught in Christmas Dilemma

Attorney Advises Christian Teachers Caught in Christmas Dilemma

By Allie Martin
December 8, 2005

(AgapePress) - Christian teachers in public schools that censor religious expression during Christmastime are being advised to respectfully educate their superiors on what can and cannot legally be done to celebrate Christmas on campus.


Steve Crampton
This time of year many Christian teachers are finding themselves at odds with school policies that ban use of the words "Christmas" or "Christ" in December events. Steve Crampton, an attorney with the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy (CLP), has some advice. He says while teachers certainly owe allegiance and respect to their employer, they should contact groups -- such as the CLP -- that can take quick action to correct instances of Christmas censorship.

But before taking that step, Crampton suggests teachers respectfully approach their employers to explain that the law is, as he puts it, "perfectly accommodating" on such points. "Try to educate the school officials who, oftentimes, are working off of the talking points of the ACLU and the Left," he advises, asserting those officials have "just gotten bad information."

Crampton notes that teachers are perfectly within their constitutional rights to share the Christmas story or sing Christmas carols with their students. He cites a recent legal case he feels is relevant.

"The comparison here," he says, "ought to be drawn to the very recent case out of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals with regard to the court upholding the right of the schools to force students to engage in role-playing of Muslim pilgrims and so forth."

He adds that if anything, that incident is "a far more extreme example of religion and coercion in the public schools" than merely reciting the Christmas story."


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