Every year, the Catholic League comes across stories of atheist groups and their attempts to neuter or eliminate Christmas. The following is a partial list of campaigns orchestrated by such organizations during Christmas 2012.
In Niles, Illinois, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) placed a Winter Solstice sign in the Village of Niles Plaza to protest the town’s life-size crèche. It featured the Bill of Rights in a manger surrounded by the Statue of Liberty and three Founding Fathers.
In Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, FFRF pressured the city to not erect its nativity scene that had been on borough property for over 50 years.
In its hometown of Madison, Wisconsin, FFRF placed its “Natural Nativity Scene” in the Wisconsin State Capitol Rotunda to counter the Wisconsin Family Action’s nativity scene in the same location.
Not only did the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers (ASF) ruin the opportunity of elementary-school children to see a production of “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” the group also protested the nativity scene on the grounds of the state capitol in Little Rock. The ASF placed its own sign explaining the science behind the Winter Solstice in response to the crèche.
It wasn’t just organizations that were involved with attempts to neuter Christmas; indeed an atheist in Deerfield Beach, Florida specifically requested to place an “anti-religious display” to counter the nativity and menorah on city property. With help from the local chapter of the ACLU, the man erected a Festivus pole made from 24 stacked beer cans to honor a faux holiday popularized by the sitcom “Seinfeld.”
These angry atheists weren’t confined to the lower 48 states, indeed a public high school in Honolulu, Hawaii canceled its annual Christmas concert due to pressure from the Hawaii Residents for Separation of Church and State. Mitch Kahle, the founder of the group wrote a letter on FFRF letterhead to the Hawaii Department of Education claiming that the school was involved with New Hope Church, because some church members had volunteered to sell tickets and work on the set. What’s worse is that the concert has raised over $200,000 over the past six years for Mercy Ships, a charity that houses American doctors in Africa on medical missions.
These militant atheists will never cease in their quest to eliminate Christmas. These incidents, along with the events in Santa Monica and the American Atheists billboard in Times Square, are clear demonstrations that Christmas is in their crosshairs. They aren’t happy with not celebrating the holiday. No, they want all to adopt their Scrooge-like mentality.
