Liberty Counsel Suits Up for Christmas Culture Wars With Friend or Foe Campaign
Liberty Counsel launched its tenth annual “Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign” Wednesday, pledging to be a “friend” to those who recognize Christmas and a “foe” to those who censor it.
Liberty Counsel has helped overturn a number of grinch-like decisions, including nativity scenes which were banned from public property; senior living centers banning elderly residents from singing Christmas carols; public schools which sought to ban students from wearing the Christmas colors of red and green; school officials who censored religious words from Christmas carols; companies which renamed Christmas trees to “holiday trees;” and Christmas parades renamed to “holiday” parades. In all of these situations, Liberty Counsel successfully educated and reversed these anti-Christmas sentiments.
Liberty Counsel offers a Help Save Christmas action pack, which includes educational legal memoranda to educate government officials, teachers, parents, students, private businesses, employees, and others that it is legal to celebrate Christmas. The action pack also includes an “I ♥ CHRISTmas” button, an “I Helped Save Christmas” bumper sticker and button, and sample ads for use in local newspapers.
The ads point out that celebrating Christmas is perfectly legal in schools, on public property and in private businesses, and they offer Liberty Counsel’s free assistance to those facing criticism for celebrating Christmas. Many churches have placed these ads in local newspapers. Thousands of public school teachers and administrators, who are members of Christian Educators Association International, have joined Liberty Counsel’s “Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign.”
As part of the annual “Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign,” Liberty Counsel publishes a “Naughty and Nice” list, which catalogs retailers who either censor (“naughty”) or recognize (“nice”) Christmas. The list is compiled from information gathered by individual consumers and is updated whenever new information is received. Liberty Counsel wants to give the gift of Christmas back to those who support it.
“Renaming a Christmas tree to a holiday tree, stopping students from wearing red and green, and censoring religious Christmas carols are absurd, but true, examples of the war against Christmas,” said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “Over the past few years, the ‘Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign’ has successfully put the ‘grinches’ on the run. This year millions of Americans will join us to help save Christmas.
“If a government entity censors Christmas in violation of the Constitution, then we will first seek to educate but, if necessary, we will litigate,” he continues. “If retailers choose to profit from Christmas while pretending it does not exist, then we will patronize their competitors.”
