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It is certainly no secret that, in recent years, liberals have attempted to eliminate the Christmas message of Jesus’ birth from American culture. They insist that the story of Jesus’ entrance into the world to save it is a myth, and one of the weapons they have used is to try to replace “Merry Christmas” with “Happy Holidays.”
In essence, it’s all about Santa Claus and not the true meaning of Christmas.
But that’s not enough for them, says Hiram Sasser, the general counsel for First Liberty Institute. These same people are now targeting other faiths’ holiday observances, including the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
Sasser points out in an op-ed on foxnews.com that King County, Washington, where Seattle, one of the most liberal spots in the country sits, is banning any symbols of Christmas or Hanukkah when working from home. Christmas decorations such as nativity scenes, crosses and menorahs are forbidden and the edict extends to the Jewish dharma wheel, crescent and star, aum, khanda and a nine-pointed star.
“The hammer and sickle (signifying Communism on the old Soviet Union flag), however, are apparently still allowed,” Sasser commented.
Unbelievably, the ban extends to “virtual” workspaces, which includes what is visible when someone logs onto a zoom conference from home.
So, while many are forced to work from home by their companies, any Christian or Jewish holiday symbols cannot be in sight of the employees’ home computer.
“The bureaucratic drive to eradicate an individualism and creative to create a bland, dystopian landscape glorifying secularism seems to have no limits,” Sasser writes. “What once was cast as an effort to protect the feelings of those of minority faiths now reveals its true self—acknowledgement of anything beyond the temporal is forbidden.
“It was never about Christmas, as such. The State, personified as the faceless bureaucrat who wrote this bizarre policy, dislikes any challenges to its ultimate power and authority, especially any acknowledgement that there is some level of spiritual authority that transcends the State itself.”
Sasser says that is why in 1964 Congress passed a bill, signed by President Johnson and known as the Civil Rights Act, which forbids the kind of workplace discrimination enacted by King County. The Civil Rights Act, fought for by many courageous people including the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., must accommodate the religious practices of its employees unless doing so causes an undue hardship on the employer.
If an employee has a sincerely held religious belief to celebrate a holiday in their home workspace and requests that his or her employer accommodate that religious practice, then the company cannot interfere with it.
“Here, King County must accommodate its employees when they decorate their home offices with religious symbols and there is no discernible reason such an accommodation would cause King County any hardship,” Sasser says.
But apparently King County is above such a sacredly held law.
Sasser says the Supreme Court of Washington, in 2018, found that government employers cannot infringe on free speech rights of its employees absent a “legitimate interest.”
“The ban is a serious infringement on the religious freedom of county employees,” Sasser wrote.
But, King County employees’ hands aren’t tied, and they can do something about. Sasser suggests that if they believe their rights have been violated in such a manner, they should seek legal counsel. He says First Liberty has won many cases across the country and have restored religious rights to Americans, including many who “have faced similar Grinch-like attacks.”
“While we hope leaders in King County come to their senses and reverse this illegal and ridiculous policy, it may require legal action to bring diversity into the bland world of King County,” Sasser wrote.
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Shawn A. Akers is the online editor at Charisma Media.
