Plano, Texas – The Town That Tried to Ban Christmas

Thursday morning, December 16, 2004

Plano, Texas – The Town That Tried to Ban Christmas
By Steve Mashburn

“For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.” Romans 2:14-16

Every once in a while I see a story in the news that just grabs my attention and stirs my juices. Today an article carried by WorldNetDaily focuses on how ‘political correctness' has run amok, with those who hate Jesus and Christians growing more outrageous by the day. This story was about the school district in Plano, Texas banning the Christmas colors red and green from its ‘Winter Party.'

First, let's define a term used too much today to hide its founders ideological worldview and true purpose. In all this rush in recent times to ban Christ, even in the form of Christmas celebrations, often we hear the term ‘politically correct.' This ambiguous-sounding term began about 85 years ago under its first and true name, Cultural Marxism. Everywhere Economic Marxism has been tried it has failed. In the 1920's Marxists saw that people would never embrace Marxism as a whole as long as Christianity and the Christian worldview was embraced. Karl Marx's ‘New Man' could not be formed until the ‘Old Man' – those governed internally by Western or Christian civilization – exits. Therefore, in order for Marxism to succeed, all Christian belief, thought, philosophy and symbolism must be removed from the culture and be replaced. Marxism, they reasoned, must first be applied to the culture. Its founders labeled this philosophy Cultural Marxism. The term “Politically Correct” would not be coined until the early 70's.

Unless we understand why and where the attacks on Christianity in the public arena are coming from, it is difficult to understand and blunt the attacks on all things Christian. As Christians we know that the Cultural Marxists or any other God-haters will never defeat the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. In China where persecution is severe the Church is growing exponentially. In Sudan where over a million Christians have been martyred the Church is growing. The fact that the gates of hell will never prevail against the Church does not mean we are to silently embrace injustice however.

This Christmas season we first saw the ACLU and government schools issuing bans on singing Christmas carols. Not two weeks later we read of other schools banning instrumental music without lyrics from school Christmas plays and parties. Oh, I'm sorry, we are supposed to refer to such events that just happen to occur just before Christmas, a federal holiday on which almost no one works, as ‘Winter Parties.'

In the Texas town of Plano , the ridiculous just took on new heights of absurdity. This Christmas the Plano Independent School District has banned the Christmas colors of red and green, requiring parents to bring only white napkins and paper plates to their party. Yes, you heard right. No longer is Plano dreaming of a white Christmas. An unjust edict will suffice. Now even the colors of Christmas have been deemed harmful to someone's self esteem or belief system.

This idiotic persecution is being challenged in a lawsuit by the Liberty Legal Institute and Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of about 20 clients. Allow me to quote from today's WND article.

Kelly Shackelford, Liberty Legal Institute's chief counsel, noted the suit was purposely filed before Friday, when the white-only Winter Break party is scheduled to occur.

"We asked for a temporary restraining order today to provide protection by this Friday," he told WorldNetDaily.

Shackelford says if the order is issued by Friday, at the party the students would be allowed to pass out religious items, parents would be able to do the same, and the ban on criticizing school officials would be lifted.

"These policies are a blatant violation of religious freedom and free speech," he said. "These are school officials who have lost all common sense."

One item included in the suit is the case of a girl student who was forbidden to invite her friends to an Easter event at her church, according to the law firm.

"We've even got a mom who went to the school asking if her daughter at her birthday party could hand out a pencil with 'Jesus' on it," Shackelford told WND, "and the principal got so upset with her that he called the police.

"It's just unbelievable stuff. We've been collecting these things for a year or two. This is a pervasive, district-wide problem of political correctness in the extreme."

Shackelford said the families' attorneys worked with the district's attorney, Richard Abernathy, to try to get the officials to back down on some of the policies, but they did not.

"We filed the federal lawsuit hopefully to put an end to all this nonsense," Shackelford said.

Shackelford said he didn't mind if the district engaged in its "silly pretense" that there is no Christmas, but he says it cannot violate the rights of students and parents in the process.

Said Shackelford: "There's a huge difference between the school putting a sign out that says, 'We endorse Jesus,' and telling students and parents that they can't live out their faith."

Amen to that. I only wish this wonderful attorney would call ‘political correctness' by its true name as it was taught in God-less college courses for 50 years before Marxists and other Jesus-haters coined the new PC phrase. It is Cultural Marxism pure and simple. If we would be honest in our language more people would recognize this as a dangerous assault on liberty and it would retain the stigma its proponents wish to keep out of public view.

Less than a month ago, a Plano, TX mother chopped off the arms of her 11-month old daughter and let her bleed to death. Could it be that a void in the hearts of citizens and schools of Plano, where Jesus used to rule, has been filled by another spirit? Dare we suggest that it's the same spirit that's behind abortion? Now the God-haters want even the colors of Christmas banned from a school Christmas party that requires the parents to bring napkins, plates and cookies. Oh yes, the policy also bans colored icing on cookies.

As I watch this unfold in Plano and elsewhere across the country, I keep hearing the goal is not to offend anybody. The media and ACLU crowd call Christians intolerant and sue in court for edicts to force 'diversity' and ‘tolerance' training on us, but I think the boat got turned upside down. In my view, it is those tiny few that claim they are offended by the term Christmas party, or by Christmas carols, nativity scenes, Salvation Army bell ringers, or even the mention of God, that need the tolerance and diversity training. If Christmas is so offensive, why have I not seen a mass move to get our employers to require everyone to work on Christmas Day?

If Christ is taken out of your Christmas, then it never was a holiday with any real meaning. It might be better if it were abolished. But God did come to earth in human form, born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem , was given the name Jesus, lived, was crucified and rose from the dead. This is just a fact. Deal with it or kill us, but no effort will eliminate the fact that each and every person will one day be held accountable to the Lord Jesus Christ.

As attorney Keith Shackelford quipped about the Plano school administrators, “I guess nobody has told them that white could symbolize the purity of Christ. They'd probably ban white!” Pray for the lawsuit which contains over 150 pages of offenses by this school district.

“'Come now, and let us reason together,' says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.'” Isaiah 1:18

* The full WND article "District prohibits Christmas colors" can be accessed at http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41955

BREAKING NEWS!!! Thursday afternoon

Justice opens probe into school district
Federal attorneys look into allegations officials censoring Christmas, squelching religious rights
By Ron Strom
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a preliminary investigation into a Texas school district that was sued yesterday for allegedly infringing on the rights of students and parents to exercise their Christian faith on school property.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41968

Also breaking on WorldNetaily "Judge rules against school district"
December 16, 2004
7:54 p.m. Eastern
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
A federal district court judge today granted a temporary restraining order to students and parents suing their Texas school district, thus allowing them to exchange religious cards and bring red and green party supplies to a school "Winter Break" party scheduled for tomorrow.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41975