February 26, 2008In a contemporary interpretation of
A Christmas Carol, Oklahoma City officials played the part of Ebenezer Scrooge -
convincingly, I might add.
In November 2007, those officials circulated a memo to Oklahoma City department and division heads, forbidding city employees to display "nativity scenes, troparia, cherubs, angels, crosses, and any other symbols of clear religious significance." The memo added that "appropriate" displays included "evergreen trees, snowflakes, reindeer, snowmen, and Santa Claus."
Asking the employees to refrain from displaying anything of religious significance at Christmas time is a bit like asking Americans not to display anything patriotic on the Fourth of July - it simply doesn't make sense. And yet, the ACLU and its allies have waged a war of fear, intimidation, and disinformation that often leaves city officials convinced that such censorship is legally necessary.
The city's memo resulted in the exclusion of a number of religious items from the workplace, including the removal of one employee's Bible from a break room where the city had allowed non-religious literature.
Praise God, ADF attorneys got involved and worked with ADF-allied attorney Brent Olsson to file a lawsuit in December. City officials quickly reached a settlement allowing city employees to exercise their constitutional right to religious expression at their workplace.
"Christians shouldn't be discriminated against for expressing their beliefs," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Byron Babione. "Sadly, some city officials fall prey to the misunderstanding that all things religious must be banished from government workplaces. In this case, Oklahoma City has done the right thing. We are pleased that the city's employees will be able to display symbols central to their faith in the workplace."
Under the terms of the settlement, the "Scrooge" memos will be replaced with new guidelines that respect the First Amendment rights of city employees and do not unconstitutionally restrict their free speech and religious expression rights. A copy of the city's resolution to settle the lawsuit is available at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/OKCityResolution.pdf.
Of course, the real Scrooges - the ACLU and its allies - will not give up for long. But we will continue to meet their challenges head on, defending
your right to religious expression at Christmastime...and all year long.