Earlier this week a New York City school superintendent ordered Christmas festivities be restored at a Brooklyn elementary school after the principal declared the small campus to be a Santa-free zone.
The nation would likely agree with the decision: A new Rasmussen Reports survey finds that 76 percent of Americans believe Christmas should be celebrated in public schools. Among adults with school-age children at home, 82 percent favor celebrating Christmas in the classroom.
Another 61 percent overall believe there should be more religion in those schools. Another 54 percent say there’s not enough religion in the public schools; 70 percent of Republicans, 61 percent of the parents and 44 percent of Democrats agree. The survey of 1,000 U.S. adults was conducted Dec. 10-13. Rasmussen Reports notes that the findings are virtually unchanged from similar surveys in recent years.
Meanwhile, there’s new legislation meant to protect Christmas and its traditional symbols against the politically correct demands of the public sector.
“Seasonal religious expression must continue to be protected for all Americans. The efforts to remove religious aspects of Christmas from the public square are not only misguided, they are unconstitutional. Christmas is a wonderful time of year when a majority of Americans take time to remember the humble birth of Jesus Christ on a holy night more than 2,000 years ago. The message of Christmas is one of love, hope and peace,” declares Rep. Doug Lamborn, who has introduced House Resolution 564 - designed to protect the symbols and traditions of the day, and fight repeated efforts to ban references to Christmas in the public square.
“It is a message that our country and this world needs more than ever in the midst of ever-increasing conflict and chaos,” said the Colorado Republican. “Regrettably, there has been a troubling effort by some in America to ban any and all Christmas celebrations and traditions from the public arena. These attacks on Christmas clearly violate the rights of religious expression our Founding Fathers deliberately provided for us in the Constitution.”
Mr. Lamborn’s resolution already enjoys the support of 36 other GOPers.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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