Contact: Liberty Counsel Public Relations Department, 800-671-1776
ORLANDO, FL, Nov. 9 /Christian Newswire/ -- Liberty Counsel has launched its seventh annual "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign," pledging to be a "Friend" to those who recognize Christmas and a "Foe" to those who censor it. In Amelia Ohio, town officials caused an uproar when they attempted to change the name of a "Christmas parade" into a "holiday parade." In response, the city council decided to cancel the parade after one person questioned whether the city could be sued for celebrating Christmas. Liberty Counsel has offered legal assistance to city officials.
Last year, Liberty Counsel defended an employee who was fired because she wanted to greet people with "Merry Christmas." Liberty Counsel filed suit and the employer agreed to settle the case by paying damages to the fired employee. Liberty Counsel has handled numerous situations involving Christmas. Liberty Counsel has worked on cases involving nativity scenes on public property, senior living centers that banned elderly residents from singing Christmas carols, a Massachusetts school which banned students from wearing red and green because they are Christmas colors, school officials who censored religious words from Christmas carols, and companies which renamed Christmas trees "holiday trees."
On its web site, www.LC.org, Liberty Counsel offers a Help Save Christmas(tm) 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(tm)" 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 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.
Mathew D. Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, remarked about the Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign: "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. 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. If retailers choose to profit from Christmas while pretending it does not exist, then we will patronize their competitors."
