Orlando,
FL – Dr. Jerry Falwell announced today that he is urging thousands
of pastors and churches to join Liberty Counsel’s “Friend or Foe Christmas
Campaign.” For the past 50 years, Dr. Falwell has been the pastor
of the 24,000 member Thomas Road Baptist Church. He is also Chancellor
of Liberty University, the largest evangelical university in the world.
In
his weekly “Falwell Confidential”
sent to a half million subscribers, including tens of thousands of
pastors, Dr. Falwell stated: “I am calling upon thousands of pastors
and churches to join Liberty Counsel’s ‘Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign.’
We must draw a line in the sand and resist bullying tactics of the
ACLU and others who intimidate school and government officials by
spreading misinformation about Christmas. Celebrating Christmas is
constitutional.”
Thomas
Road Baptist Church is sponsoring local newspaper ads promoting the
Christmas Campaign. The ads, which are available in different sizes,
point out that celebrating Christmas is still legal in schools, on
public property and in private businesses. The ads also offer free
legal assistance by Liberty Counsel to individuals facing persecution
for celebrating Christmas. Liberty Counsel provides a free
educational legal memo, with a pledge to be the “Friend” to those
entities which do not discriminate against Christmas and a “Foe” to
those that do.
The
idea for church participation in the “Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign”
began last year when the largest church in Alaska, Anchorage Baptist
Temple, pastored by Dr. Jerry Prevo, launched the Campaign in Alaska
by running newspaper ads. Commenting on the Campaign, Dr. Prevo stated:
“The ads were a greater success than I had ever imagined. We received
an outpouring of community support, and best of all, the preemptive
measures resulted in not one incident of religious discrimination.
I would encourage every pastor and church to participate.”
I am thrilled to see so many pastors and churches promoting the Christmas
Campaign. For too many years we have remained silent while the ACLU
and others like them have played the role of the Grinch. We will no
longer remain silent. We have no intention of letting misinformation
chase our religious liberty or our religious heritage from the public
marketplace. It’s time to set the record straight – Christmas is constitutional.
Earlier
this year Liberty Counsel announced that thousands of public school
teachers and administrators, who are members of Christian Educators
Association International, are also joining the “Friend or Foe Christmas
Campaign.”
Matthew D. Staver is the president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel.
