Christmas is under attack from all sides

By John Gibson
Free Lance-Star
WASHINGTON -- Now is the time of the year when the anti-Christmas forces I wrote about in my book, "The War on Christmas," come out of the woodwork.
These are the Christmas battles fought at the school board, in the local library and public park, and in the offices and lobbies of the town halls of small to medium-size cities.
It is at this time of year that people who believe Christmas trees, Santas, the colors red and green, and even the word "Christmas" itself are religious symbols feel that as such they must be banned from the public square.
It is these people who demand that a Christmas tree be taken down, that Santa be dismissed, that parents not bring red and green napkins and paper plates to the kiddies' "holiday party" just before "winter break" because these are symbols of Christianity -- and as such, must be barred from public places.
When these arguments are made they are sometimes successful, but only because the true state of the law isn't always known to decision-makers on the local level. An ACLU lawyer may declare these symbols of Christmas to be religious, but the Supreme Court of the United States does not -- and what most local officials don't seem to realize is that the court has always held these symbols to be secular, not religious, and they are entirely permissible in public places.
Obviously there is a continuing debate about purely religious symbols, such as the Nativity scene and the cross, but for Christmas trees, and Santas, there are simply no restrictions from a constitutional-law point of view.
Anti-Christmas movement
So what does it mean when someone says there are restrictions? In the stories I tell in my book, I reveal how some people in the anti-Christmas movement don't really care what the law says, and are perfectly willing to go way beyond the law if they can get away with it.
If they are challenged by a reasonably competent lawyer, though, those anti-Christmas forces almost always lose, and rightfully so.
One other thing these developments mean is that a war on Christmas is really a war on Christians. Some of the secularists in this war are active anti-religionists, atheists and agnostics who, as one rabbi explained to me, "don't want anything to do with their parents' religion and certainly don't want anything to do with yours."
The other group of anti-Christmas forces are often themselves from a Christian family and background, but find themselves opposed politically to positions taken by groups of well-organized conservative evangelical Christians.
So opposition to conservative Christians' position on abortion or gay marriage or intelligent design will often translate into a casual and easily accepted bias and opposition to Christian practices and holidays -- like Christmas.
What you always hear from secularists is the question, "Why don't Christians practice their faith in their homes and churches and leave the rest of us alone?"
Religious free speech
Well, the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects religious free speech. Evidently what some people have forgotten is that free speech requires the tolerance of people hearing speech they do not like.
In fact, the religious tradition of this country is tolerance -- and what Christians want is for the same sense of tolerance that has always been extended to religionists of small or minor populations to be extended to the religionists of the overwhelming majority of the U.S. population -- Christians.
"Merry Christmas" has never been hurled as an insult. A Christmas tree is not put up as an affront. People who say they are offended by the greeting or the tree should realize their taking offense indicates a hostility or an animosity to Christians.
X John Gibson hosts "The Big Story" on Fox News and is the author of the book "The War on Christmas." He wrote this for The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services