Racine Residents Win Right to Place Christmas Displays in Public Forum
by Ed Thomas
October 31, 2006
(AgapePress) - - An early skirmish has been won in a pro-family law firm's annual campaign to defend the rights of Americans to freely celebrate Christmas. Liberty Counsel has helped a resident of Racine, Wisconsin, to get his city council's consent in allowing Christmas displays on public property.The community's hard-won permission to set up the holiday decorations in a downtown area known as "Monument Square" was largely due to a year-long effort led by area native Robert Wortcock. The Racine citizen spearheaded the lobbying of a grassroots coalition of residents and churches all year in a campaign to have the Christmas displays approved.
Wortcock received legal assistance in these efforts from Liberty Counsel, a group whose annual "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign" is dedicated to informing people across the U.S. that celebrating Christmas is constitutional, and helping citizens' defend their right to do so. The non-profit legal organization has pledged to be a "Friend" to those entities that do not censor Christmas and a "Foe" to those that do, contending against the latter through legal information and, if necessary, litigation.
Liberty Counsel's senior legal counsel Erik Stanley says Racine's Common Council was tentative about permitting the displays because of legal questions concerning government endorsement of a religious holiday. However, the pro-family firm helped clarify the legal issues involved for the city leaders.
"Celebrating Christmas and the religious aspects of Christmas, specifically, is constitutional as long as it is done properly," Stanley points out. And after a letter from his firm explaining this fact -- and a heated debate before the Common Council members -- the City of Racine voted 14-1 in favor of allowing full Christmas displays.
Now, the attorney notes, residents in Racine will be able to put up religious-themed Christmas displays -- and signage referring to them as such -- including a Nativity scene, a Christmas tree, and a Christmas banner. Racine had not allowed these decorations last year and only put up generic holiday displays.
"The City of Racine was always very hesitant to allow for religious symbols of the season until we were able to convince them that, by opening up Monument Square, what they've done is created a public forum," Stanley explains. Having done that, the Council could legally allow other individuals or groups to come in and to put up holiday displays, the attorney says, and "even religious symbols of the Christmas season, without fear of a lawsuit."
Liberty Counsel is pleased, Stanley notes, that the City of Racine has agreed to allow residents to put up Christmas displays in Monument Square "without the need for legal action." According to the pro-family law firm, when enough people learn the truth -- that celebrating Christmas and the religious aspects of Christmas is constitutional -- then the ACLU and similar "grinches" will lose their power to censor the Christian holiday.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
