166 - CHRISTMAS NAUGHT AND NICE LIST - SHOULD CHRISTIANS CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS - IS CHRISTMAS A PAGAN HOLIDAY

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). Legal challenges to Christmas and holiday displays have been going on for decades. In order to combat the anti-Christmas sentiment outside of the courtroom, a nonprofit religious liberty organization is encouraging shoppers to do so with their wallets. Liberty Counsel's Naughty and Nice List classifies retailers according to whether they censor or celebrate Christmas — an allusion, of course, to Santa's list of naughty and nice children from the Christmas standard "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town."Urging Americans "to give the gift of Christmas back to the companies who support it," the group says, "If retailers choose to profit from Christmas while pretending it does not exist, we encourage you to politely explain why and then patronize their competitors." The list forms part of Liberty Counsel's annual "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign," which the organization launched in 2003 to counter a rising tide of opposition to the public celebration of Christmas."The war against Christmas is nothing new, and it is certainly evident today in the form of religious discrimination and hostility," says Liberty Counsel founder and Chairman Mat Staver. "Repressive forces have always had the same goal — to first secularize and then to eliminate Christmas and Christian symbols, celebrations and speech.In America, the First Amendment is a guard against censorship and religious hostility. In the retail market, the consumer can decide to patronize stores that recognize Christmas and avoid those that profit from Christmas while pretending it does not exist."