c. 2004 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) During this holiday season the Anti-Defamation League again has been accused of being the “Grinch” trying to censor Christmas. This charge is unfounded and shows a profound misunderstanding of ADL’s approach to the “December dilemma,” the perennial concern over how public schools and institutions recognize the holiday season.

If anything we are strongly pro-religion. For more than 90 years we have been a steadfast advocate of religious liberty for all Americans and the right of everyone to celebrate the religious traditions of their choosing _ whether in the majority or minority.

To ensure that all Americans share in the promise of our democracy and the right to believe, or not believe, government must be inclusive. It cannot be seen as favoring the views of one belief system over another.

We appreciate the vital role that religious celebrations of the holidays and expressions of religious belief play in enriching the personal and spiritual lives of many Americans. It is not our intention or our goal to prevent Americans from wishing each other a “merry Christmas,” or from including a Christmas song in a holiday concert. But religious devotions belong in houses of worship, private institutions, in the home, and in the heart.

Some argue that it’s trivial whether a public school limits its holiday observances to Christmas. But our nation’s schools are the incubators of American values and civic life. They must be sensitive, and seek to instill an understanding of respect for diversity, tolerance, acceptance, and inclusion for every student.

Recently, ADL worked with an elementary school in which December holiday activities ostracized students as young as 5 from their classmates. In one class, students were asked to write letters to Santa. In response, a non-Christian student raised her hand and advised the teacher that she did not believe in Santa. The teacher told the student to simply write a letter to someone else and her peers taunted her for not believing in Santa or Jesus.

In another classroom, when students worked on a Christmas angel arts and crafts project, Jewish students were instructed to leave the classroom and work on another project in the hallway.

To these young students such incidents are painful lessons that may have a harmful impact on their civic development and view of American society. It wrongly teaches them that to be a full member of the community they have to sacrifice their religious beliefs and freedom. The December holidays should never be a lesson about religious division and exclusion, but a source of communal good will, respect and understanding.

Americans have the absolute right to celebrate the holidays as their conscience dictates. But when it comes to government, if it chooses to recognize our nation’s rich religious and culture traditions, it must also ensure communal harmony. To that end, our public institutions should strive to respect Americans of all traditions, including Christmas, by acknowledging the December holidays in a spirit of inclusiveness that instills an appreciation for diversity.

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(Daniel S. Alter is the civil rights director of the Anti-Defamation League, a New York City-based organization that “fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry.”)