By Rory Gray, Alliance Defending Freedom Litigation Counsel

Religious liberty received an early Christmas present a few weeks back when the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Freedom from Religion Foundation, Inc. v. City of Warren.  The opinion gives a new take on what is now a familiar legal story.  The City of Warren, Michigan put up a holiday display in its civic center that included a smorgasbord of nonreligious items, including ribbons, ornaments, reindeer, wreaths, elves, gift boxes, etc., and one religious one—a nativity scene.  True to form, the Grinch more commonly known as the Freedom from Religion Foundation (“FFRF”) turned up to complain that the nativity scene violated the Establishment Clause.  But the city mayor stuck to his guns and refused to remove it.  So FFRF tried a different tack; it submitted a large sandwich-board sign for inclusion in the display that, among other festive gems, proclaimed that:

There are no gods,
no devils, no angels,
No heaven or hell.
There is only our natural world,
Religion is but
Myth and superstition
That hardens hearts
And enslaves minds.

Clearly recognizing FFRF’s sign for what it was, a venomous attack on religion designed to scuttle the holiday display altogether, the city mayor refused to include it.  FFRF then filed a lawsuit.  The district court ultimately rejected FFRF’s arguments and so did the Sixth Circuit.

In an excellent opinion written by Judge Sutton, the Sixth Circuit explained that a “nativity scene, when accompanied by [a] collection of secular and seasonal symbols, does not amount to an establishment of religion or for that matter an impermissible endorsement of it.”    Indeed, this argument seems rather silly in light of the fact that the Supreme Court has proclaimed that “We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a supreme Being” and Congress has enacted “a law devoted to spiritual matters … called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, all without violating the Establishment Clause.”

The clear lesson of this story is that “when government speaks for itself,” “strict neutrality” is not required.  Otherwise, the postal service couldn’t add a religious Christmas stamp without designing a nonreligious counterpart, “Veterans’ Day would lead to Pacifism Day, the Fourth of July to Non-Patriots Day, and so on.”  That is not the law.  Government is free to keep items, like FFRF’s sign, out of its holiday display and may “choose to add a nativity scene (so long as it did not violate the Establishment Clause)” or “add an angel,” while “keep[ing] out a devil.”  “[A]ccountability” for these choices is “through the democratic process.”

So if your town sponsors a holiday display next December, advocate for a nativity scene to be included.  Each one is an important reminder that Jesus is the reason we celebrate Christmas, not Rudolph however charming his bright nose.  And as an added benefit, nativity scenes in public displays visibly deny the strict “separation of church and state,” which is a mirage built of groups like FFRF’s wishful thinking, not the First Amendment’s text.

We recently received an exciting update on a previous situation ADF assisted with in Northern Arizona. Based on some confusion about the First Amendment, the Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG) Area Agency on Aging told all of its service providers, including Meals on Wheels, that they were no longer permitted to allow any collective prayer before the meals they served at area senior centers. For many years, seniors at the centers had been saying a short, voluntary prayer together, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, prior to eating the lunch provided by Meals on Wheels.

ADF offered to provide assistance to NACOG free of charge and drafted a new policy on prayer and religious expression. We recently received word that NACOG adopted the policy and sent it out to all of their service providers.

Kudos to NACOG for correcting its policy and protecting the First Amendment rights of the senior citizens it serves!

When it comes to college basketball, Lexington, Kentucky is “Title Town USA.”   With its precision offense and shot-blocking defense, the home-town University of Kentucky Wildcats won another NCAA national championship a few weeks ago.

But away from the basketball court, some folks in Lexington refuse to acknowledge that religious freedom ranks No. 1 in the Bill of Rights.

Some folks like the local Gay & Lesbian Services Organization (GLSO).  If they get their way, religious freedom will be dealt a huge defeat like those served on so many of the Wildcats’ basketball opponents.

Alleging “discrimination,” GLSO is demanding the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission slap a technical foul on the Christian-owned business Hands On Originals.

Blaine Adamson, co-owner of Hands On Originals shirt shop, declined GLSO’s request to print t-shirts for a “pride” parade celebrating homosexual behavior.  The co-owners of Hands On Originals sincerely believe in the inspired Word of God, and they strive to live by its commands in their personal and public lives.  They disagree with the message served by these “pride” parades, and they exercised their right to be obedient to God.

In retaliation, GLSO is urging large customers of Hands On Originals – including the University of Kentucky – to boycott the shirt shop, which could be forced to lay off employees if business revenue drops substantially.

Blaine Adamson joins a growing list of Christian business owners facing legal attack in the clash between the free exercise of religion – the first liberty affirmed in the U.S. Constitution – and the homosexual legal agenda.  The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and our allies have successfully defended many of them, but other costly legal battles rage on.  In New Mexico, Elaine Huguenin awaits appeal of a similar “discrimination” charge – for declining to photograph a same-sex “commitment ceremony.”  If convicted, she may have to close her photography business.

This issue brings two vitally important questions into play for believers.  How should the Body of Christ respond to these predatory assaults on religious liberty?  And, are pastors free to scripturally equip their congregations on how to respond to attacks on religious freedom?

It’s crucial for Christians to understand the serious legal risks they face in the public square as they strive to uphold their biblical beliefs.  Pastors also need to understand the attacks against their congregants and how to lead in a time of hostility toward religious freedom.

Pastors can take an important step in leadership by participating in the ADF Pulpit Freedom Sunday October 7^th when hundreds of pastors will preach the full counsel of scripture on the issue of candidates and the election to equip their congregations and to counter a challenge to their own free speech.

They do so knowing Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) will bluster and complain.  This radical group is threatening pastors with intimidating letters warning them to refrain from speaking on some of the moral issues which will help their congregations.

This bullying has been happening since Congress hastily approved the “Johnson Amendment” in 1954.  The act modified the Internal Revenue Service tax code and overturned 178 years of free speech for America’s pastors, who now risk loss of tax exemptions for applying scripture or church teaching to the issue of candidates and elections.

For instance, if Blaine Adamson’s pastor urges the congregation to vote for political candidates who will uphold religious liberty, AU will file a “complaint” (really just a tattle-tale letter) with the Internal Revenue Service demanding the church lose its tax exemption.

The Alliance Defense Fund and our allies are protecting churches willing to courageously challenge this unjust tax law.  While we’re not encouraging pastors to become political commentators, we are urging them to determine the content of sermons on their own.  For too long, pastors self-censored their messages and essentially enabled the IRS to determine what can and can’t be said in the pulpits of America.

Pulpit Freedom Sunday pastors are forwarding recordings of their sermons to the IRS in hopes of drawing investigations.  When IRS officials attempt to whistle a church for a flagrant foul, ADF will sue the IRS in an attempt to overturn the Johnson Amendment.  Our goal is to regain complete freedom for America’s churches.

Please pray for victory in the battles for religious freedom in Lexington, in New Mexico, and across America.  Pray for free speech for our pastors

Anyone persuaded that the fight for religious liberty is a dry thing of legal briefs and courtroom motions and legislative committee sessions could benefit from a visit to the ADF Truth & Triumph website, where  legal issues are considerably livened – and complicated – by what author Graham Greene memorably called “the human factor.”

Among the most recent features posted there are the all-too-human stories of:

•  A college student who discovered, firsthand, that not all of loved ones could understand why a young woman would choose to be arrested, rather than submit to the speech codes of a powerful university determined to promote a pro-abortion agenda on campus.

• A mother who found herself explaining to a school district official a little more than she really knew about why it was okay for her kindergartener to hand a Bible to her little classroom friend, who wanted one so much.

•  A humble pastor and scholar who freely decided to risk his life calling out a murderous dictator on his determination to destroy religious freedom.

• A presidential aide who lost his way – and found forgiveness – at the lonely crossroads where personal ambition, private faith, and public scrutiny all converge.

The issues of life, marriage and the family, and religious liberty are not just of growing national importance – they are of surpassing personal importance for every Christian who sits in a pew or stands in a pulpit. These are the issue that ultimately reveal our own character … test the genuineness of our faith … and determine the power and integrity of our witness to our culture and our communities.

Nothing can be more inspiring than the stories of those who face these tests – and find His grace sufficient for what they meet there. Visit Truth & Triumph and see for yourself what some of  those who “have never bowed to Baal” (1 Kings 19:18)  look like.

I recently explained the importance of the Supreme Court’s decision affirming a church’s right to control whom it employs as a teacher in its religious school in a post you can read here. Unfortunately, the vital protection this case provides for religious freedom has largely been lost on the mainstream media. Instead, they’ve often focused on how this decision may affect teachers at religious schools. One AP article went so far as to assert that a teacher of Jewish Studies at a Jewish school should be seen as a “teacher whose subject is religion, not a religious teacher.” In the context of a religious school, this is completely at odds with the concept of religious freedom.

The Court of Appeals in the Hosanna-Tabor case made a similar argument (which was thankfully rejected by the Supreme Court). It opined that the teacher who sued the religious school wasn’t a minister because she spent six hours a day teaching secular subjects like math, social studies, and music.  Only an hour or so was spent on exclusively religious instruction. The fact that the teacher also lead weekly chapel services, taught a 30-minute religion class four days per week, lead prayer three times per day, and taught a morning devotional was considered to be largely irrelevant.  So the school was prohibited from firing the teacher, even though she violated church teachings regarding mediation of disputes among believers.

The appeals court (and the Associated Press) failed to recognize something even Christians sometimes forget – our biblical worldview and Christian principles affect all aspects of our lives.  That certainly includes how we teach our children all subjects – even those that don’t appear to be “religious” – such as music and social studies.  It even includes math, as demonstrated by the great mathematicians Sir Isaac Newton and Rene Descartes. And it certainly includes religious classes like Jewish Studies at a religious school that has as its purpose inculcating the religious theology and values of a particular religion.

Saying the Hosanna-Tabor case undermines the rights of teachers is like saying the desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education wrongly ignored the rights of teachers who wanted to only teach certain kids. The larger, more important, principle of elimination of racism – or protection of religious freedom in this case – is being missed. Thankfully, all nine Justices of the Supreme Court aren’t influenced by the misguided opinions of the Associated Press.