Just in time for the holidays, Texas is reminding public schools and their teachers that wishing someone a “Merry Christmas” is protected under state law. The bill, also known as the “Merry Christmas law,” was signed by Gov. Rick Perry in June. The bill also safeguards “winter celebrations” from legal challenges, specifically naming Christmas and Hanukkah. Last summer, Perry stated “religious freedom does not mean freedom from religion” when explaining the motive of the legislation last summer. But he failed to recognize that religious freedom does not allow for the promotion of any certain religion.
The law is often self-contradictory and highly vague, perhaps reflecting an intent to create a law that fits different interpretations. For instance, the law states that “school districts may educate students about the history of traditional winter celebrations,” yet it insists it “may not include a message that encourages adherence to a specific religious belief.” But, any historical account of traditional winter celebrations is necessarily steeped in religion. Worse still, the inclusion of specific religions in an educational context gives the beliefs credence and encourages adherence.
In 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States introduced what is commonly referred to as the Lemon Test — a judicial tool detailing the requirements for legislation concerning religion. Within the test, the court held that “the government’s action must not have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion.” This requirement is clearly at odds with Texas legislation. In signaling a specific religious group as being in the possession of any right, lawmakers necessarily exclude members who are not part of that group.
The bill allows school districts to display religious scenes such as “a menorah or … nativity” as long as they do not “encourage adherence to a particular religious belief.” These scenes would have to represent either more than one religion or include one religion and at least one secular scene. Essentially, a school could have scenes and symbols from only one religion as long as they have the occasional snowman included. However, the bill explicitly protects Christmas and Hanukkah while ignoring other religious holidays.
The Merry Christmas law, which at face value is meant to protect religious expression in schools, is inherently predicated on a bias against other religious groups. The bill awards special privileges to Judeo-Christian practices under vague and deceiving language like “winter celebrations,” extending preferential treatment to two specific religions in public schools and leaving other minority groups to identify their rights through the bill’s muddled logic. The selective endorsement of religious freedom is discriminatory and has no place inside the Texas public school system.
A version of this article appeared in the Tuesday, Dec. 10 print edition. Email the WSN editorial board at [email protected].
