In a perversion of the holiday that celebrates the birth of Christ, New York schools are promoting the symbols of Judaism and Islam and denigrating Christians, according to a suit filed by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and a Catholic family from Queens.
With an official policy that allow only "Christmas trees, menorahs and the star and crescent" to be displayed during the Christmas season, the schools are discriminating against Catholics, according to the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.
William Donohue, head of the Catholic League, said the Jewish menorah and Muslim star and crescent were religious symbols, while the Christmas tree was not.
"I'm offended that we're some sort of second-class religion that would be satisfied with a tree," he told The New York Times (Dec. 11).
The League argues that the school system should allow a Nativity scene or ban all holiday symbols.
The state education department says it is only following a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed a ban on Nativity scenes at a county courthouse, while permitting a menorah and a Christmas tree.
The department spokeswoman didn't say how permitting a Muslim symbol had any connection to the Supreme Court ruling.
Our Sunday Visitor, December 24, 2002
