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Faith Prevails Today Despite ACLU Scrooges
Originally appeared in the New York Post on Thursday, December 25, 1997
DESPITE the doctrine of separation of church and state, this great vast land will ground to a halt today as 200 million Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ more than 2,000 years ago.
At the same time, 4 million Jews will celebrate the second of the eight days of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, a holiday that dates back 165 years before Christmas.
From midnight on, the churches will be jammed with worshipers, but not one government office will open for business. No legislature will sit in session, no court will open its doors, no serious commerce will be transacted.
In a word, two momentous religious events are going to shut down the United States today, as they have done every year at this time almost from the beginning.
It must be apparent even to the most obdurate that religious faith and practice is a cornerstone of the nation, freely acknowledged, witnessed and praised by the Founding Fathers and their heirs.
It is apparent to everyone, that is, except the dim lights in the American Civil Liberties Union. When it comes to the United States and religion, they are the flat-Earth brigade of the day.
This year, as every year, their eager legal beagles and allies have been going all over the country, launching suits and protests to strip Christmas and Hanukkah out of government view.
But nothing drives them quite so crazy as the sight of a creche or menorah on government property.
They claim such displays put government in the business of promoting religion in defiance of the sacred dogma of separation of church and state.
It doesn't matter to them that government is already deeply entwined with religion. Every dollar bill and every court in the land is emblazoned with the words "In God We Trust."
The Declaration of Independence, the most important American historical document, proudly proclaims all men are "endowed by their Creator" with unalienable rights.
The Pledge of Allegiance is a ringing affirmation that we are "one nation under God." The national anthem calls on all to "praise the Power" that made and preserves the nation.
In one of his greatest moments, Abraham Lincoln invoked God in his speech at Gettysburg.
And at the end of the 20th century, you can't even begin to count up the millions of dollars governments at all levels in the United States funnel into religious denominations and charities.
But just put a creche or a menorah in front of City Hall, and the great intellects at the ACLU go cuckoo.
This year, their big crusade has been in Jersey City -- again.
They first hit the waterfront city in 1994 with a suit against Republican Mayor Bret Schundler for erecting a nativity scene and menorah in front of City Hall. A court ruled the display was insufficiently secular.
So this year, Schundler added a Santa, a Frosty the Snowman and a few Kwanzaa symbols to satisfy the court.
No deal. The whining ACLU filed another suit, charging the additional figures were "attempts at evasion of constitutional prohibitions through superficial secular tokenism."
A federal court sided with them, so Schundler was obliged to remove them and stash them in a government agency basement.
In their place, he hung two signs. The first read, "Due to a lawsuit by the ACLU, our traditional menorah and creche may not be displayed this year. We are fighting in court to be able to return these beautiful displays to you next year."
The second sign was delicious in his irony and history.
It read as follows, "As the Constitution of the State of New Jersey reads, let us remain "grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy,' and let us continue "looking to Him for a blessing upon our endeavors to secure and transmit the same unimpaired to succeeding generations.'"
Don't you love it? All Schundler did was quote the state's Constitution, and the people's need for gratitude to God -- and the ACLU clowns couldn't do a thing about it.
Nobody wants government to embrace a particular religion. The very idea is abhorrent. A creche or menorah does not promote religion, as the ACLU insists.
"What we're doing in Jersey City, is honoring the diverse cultural heritages of our very diverse people," Schundler said. "Religion is a part of those cultures and we don't want to wipe it out as if it were not a part of their heritages."
Schundler and the Jersey ACLU honcho Ed Martone debated the creche-menorah issue on TV the other day, with Ed pounding out the tired old line that government "must not endorse or promote religion."
Regrettably, too many courts go along. It's all a smokescreen.
TV host Tony Snow demolished Ed with the obvious truth when he said, "A lot of people think the ACLU is actively trying to knock religion out of American public life."
That's what it is really all about.
But this is the season of goodwill to all men, so we say to all the ACLU troops, "Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah."
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