It was a tricky season for those who delight in warring with Christmas. Consider what happened in Waterbury, Connecticut. Erik Brown is the principal of Walsh Elementary in the Waterbury School District. His staff was under strict orders not to employ secular, as well as religious, Christian symbols when they enjoyed their “winter celebration” on... [Read more...]
As usual, there was a litany of bizarre Christmas stories in 2009. A few days before Christmas, we commented on a handful of them. There was a Christmas tree inside Cary, North Carolina’s town hall, but the town officials couldn’t bring themselves to call it by its proper name, instead they relabeled it the “Community Tree.” In Madison, Wisconsin... [Read more...]
A day after we commented and urged our members to contact Oregon’s Ashland School District Superintendent, a “Giving Tree” that was removed from Belleview Elementary School was restored. Belleview Elementary’s principal, Michelle Zundel, said that one family made a complaint about the “Giving Tree” that was displayed in the school lobby,... [Read more...]
Residents of Howard County, Indiana that were hoping to see a manger scene on the lawn of the county courthouse were disappointed this past Christmas season. Instead, they got a lighted display of the Loch Ness Monster, a whale and other animals. From the pictures we saw, the lighted whale was our favorite. Commissioner Tyler Moore defended the exercise... [Read more...]
The Byam Elementary School in Chelmsford, Massachusetts asked parents to donate holiday gifts to the school’s holiday gift shop; the shopping days were December 1-4. Shopping guidelines informed that “Seasonal items such as snowmen, mittens, snowflakes are a big hit.” But the school also had a list of “Items NOT Permitted.” The school was... [Read more...]
Just like in years past, we were flooded with reports from across the nation about nativity scenes being vandalized. Here is a sample of the stories that came to our attention: · In Manchester, New Hampshire a five-foot tall figure of one of the Wise Men was stolen from a nativity scene that had been set up for 40 years. · In a neighborhood near the... [Read more...]
Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on an article by Deborah Dwork and Eric Greenberg criticizing the Catholic Church for pursuing the cause of sainthood for Pope Pius XII; it is published on the website of today’s Philadelphia Inquirer: Deborah Dwork is a specialist in Holocaust studies at Clark University, and Rabbi Eric Greenberg is... [Read more...]
Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the on-going reaction to Fox News analyst Brit Hume’s plea to Tiger Woods that he turn to Christianity and seek forgiveness: Anyone who doesn’t understand the premium that Christianity puts on forgiveness is badly educated, but that is no excuse for the kind of vitriol that has been spewed against... [Read more...]
Executive Summary Every year in the Catholic League’s history has its similarities and unique qualities. What made 2009 so different from past years was the extent to which government threatened the rights of Catholics and the Catholic Church. That it occurred at the local, state and federal levels made the onslaught all the more ominous. Americans... [Read more...]
January 23 Bills were introduced in both houses of the Maryland legislature—sponsored by Delores Goodwin Kelley in the Senate and C. Sue Hecht in the House—that would have continued the duplicitous way private and public institutions are treated. These bills continued the outrageous insulation afforded public schools: under the law, claims are limited... [Read more...]