Where’s Your Christmas Spirit?

Bringing Back Christmas

The call came in to the Christian Law Association a few weeks before Christmas.  It was a pastor on the phone.  His daughter worked for a private retail establishment and was told by her manager that no one was permitted to say Merry Christmas to customers.  Did the pastor’s daughter really have to obey this directive from her boss and not say Merry Christmas?
       
        Unfortunately, the answer is that the pastor’s daughter did have to obey her employer, or she could have potentially been terminated.  It is the owner of a private store or business who is legally permitted to decide what sort of image to present to the public and to customers.  While this legal principle is very helpful for business owners who want to honor Christmas and its religious message, an anti-Christmas business owner has the same legal right to become a “grinch.”      

The pastor’s daughter was an employee and, therefore, a legal agent of her employer.  She was responsible to portray her employer’s desired image to the public.  As a side note, Christian business owners are legally responsible to accommodate their non-Christian employees who do not celebrate Christmas, even though a non-Christian business owner is not required to allow Christian employees to express their own personal faith to customers.
     

The Rest of the Story

     

Fortunately for our pastor’s daughter, that is not the end of the story.  While employees are required to obey the instructions of their employers regarding Christmas, the customer is in an entirely different position.  If the store owner is concerned about offending customers and decides it is best not to wish them a Merry Christmas, those customers who want to celebrate Christmas must speak up and let their voices be heard.
       
        Our CLA attorneys told the pastor that he should spread the word about this store’s anti-Christmas attitude as far as possible.  Any customers who shop in the store should make it clear (politely, of course) to the manager that they are offended by the store’s lack of Christmas spirit.  They should let the owner or manager know that they intend to shop only in stores and business establishments that properly celebrate the real meaning of Christmas.
       
        Think about it.  Christmas is the most profitable time of year for most retail establishments.  Why should a store that seems to be ashamed of Christmas get any of your hard-earned holiday shopping dollars?  At Christmas time, every Christian in America should let the owners or managers of every store or business they patronize know that they expect to be wished a Merry Christmas and that they intend to shop and to spend their money only at those business establishments that display an appropriate Christmas spirit.  That sort of hit to the pocketbook will do more than anything else to change a store owner or manager’s mind about wishing customers a Merry Christmas.
     

The Positive Approach

A recent Rasmussen poll showed that 64% of Americans celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, while another 27% celebrate Christmas in a secular manner.  Only 6% do not celebrate Christmas at all.  Christmas is an official federal holiday that should be respected even by non-Christians in America.

The separation of church and state does not apply to private business establishments and how they may celebrate or promote religious holidays.  That is a decision each business makes for itself depending upon what they think their customers want.  If only the “Christmas grinches” let their voices be heard, that is the direction most business owners will go.
       
        In addition to letting your voice be heard when businesses do not wish you a Merry Christmas, you should also make sure to commend those private businesses and stores that display religious symbols of Christmas and greet customers with a “Merry Christmas.”  Let them know that you appreciate their Christmas spirit and that you intend to reward them with your shopping dollars.
     

The Bottom Line

Business establishments, including stores, malls and restaurants are privately owned.  Therefore, they are not legally subject to any constitutional restrictions regarding the “separation of church and state.”  The Establishment Clause does not apply to them.  The same is true of private apartment complexes, condominiums, and private clubs.  The owners, members, and managers of these private establishments may decide for themselves how to celebrate Christmas.  Therefore, a store, club, or condominium could use ONLY religious decorations at Christmas without violating the Constitution or any other laws.  Only the government is required to balance religious displays at Christmas with secular items.

Remember that customers have power.  When you notice that stores, restaurants, or other business establishments are censoring the religious aspects of Christmas, you should clearly let the owner or manager know that you will not be spending your Christmas dollars there.  Most stores and other businesses have stopped Christmas traditions because one or two customers complained.  If one or two hundred customers complain when Christmas is not recognized, this trend will very likely change.  Christians should not allow a few anti-religious dissidents to completely reorganize our American culture.
     

Other Options

Here are a few other ways that you can bring back Christmas even when others do not share your Christmas spirit.

1) Consider sending only religious Christmas cards—-and tuck an appropriate Gospel tract inside.  The only exception would be that if you are a government worker, including a public school teacher, you may not legally give religious Christmas cards or Gospel tracts to clients or students.

2) Be sure to place a religious Christmas display in your own front yard.  Many housing developments or condominiums have rules against signs or displays in yards, but these rules generally do not apply to Christmas decorations.

3) Consider bringing back the custom of caroling in your community.  Singing about the birth of Jesus on the public streets of your town is entirely legal.

4) While some stores or malls may not display an appropriate Christmas spirit, you are still legally permitted to wear a Christmas T-shirt or holiday button anywhere you shop during Christmas.

5) Consider leaving an attractive holiday Gospel tract with your tip when eating out during this holiday season.

     

There are many legal ways that you can help bring back Christmas to your community this year.  If Americans do not exercise these liberties while we are still able to do so, there is no guarantee as to how long they will continue.