We may be somewhat confused to see the U.S. government, and probably many
other governments around the world, officially recognize December 25th -
Christmas Day - as a National Holiday, closing all government offices, and
at the same time forbidding the people at such state offices from
displaying a "Nativity Scene" (or "Creche") under the pretext of
"Separation of Church and State".

One must ask in bewilderment, "Does the State recognize Christmas, or doesn't it?!"
What is behind this contradiction?

There was a time in the recent past that such a controversy over
displaying the Christmas nativity scene on state property was reported in
the press each year. Each Advent they covered one or another case where
someone was fighting over their "right" to display the Child Jesus in the
stable on public property. Such stories have now become rather rare because
the campaign by the media to remove the "creche" has been a relative
success; the public at large have been deceived into believing that the
original intent of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution forbids the
exposition of the creche on public property. What should make us suspicious
about this from the start is the fact that it has taken about 200 years
before it became a public issue! We can be sure that if Christmas did not
have such a financial importance in the year, it too would cease to be a
National Holiday under the pretext of "Separation of Church and State".

It is important for Catholics to understand the issue of the relationship
between Religion and the State, which is really a simple matter. Our Lord
was condemned under "pretext" that His teachings went contrary to the
State; and the many, many martyrs who died for the Faith in England
hundreds of years ago (in imitation of their Lord) also were charged with
treason under the pretext that their actions violated State law. The push
is on little by little in the United States today, and around the world, to
classify Catholicism as a cult. And this is done persistently and
methodically through the media by first making the term "right-wing" a
loathsome thing, and then magnifying the ABUSES of those on "the right",
creating the notion that anyone on the right is a potential danger to
society. It is a false "guilt by association".

At the heart of the issue of the Christmas Creche (at least in the U.S.)
is the First Amendment to the Constitution:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

We must remember that the First 10 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution were
called "The Bill of Rights", and did not "give" men rights; they merely
were written in order to "secure" men's rights which the U.S. Founding
Fathers already considered to be given by Our Creator as "inalienable
rights". Take a close look at the above amendment and you will see that it
forbids only ONE specific group of people from performing ONE specific act
- it only forbids CONGRESS from making LAWS which favor one religious
denomination over another. It does not say "the" but "an establishment";
signifying that, for example, Anglicanism could not be favored or
discriminated by any particular law. When we see a creche set up outside of
a Public School, or Post Office, we must then ask ourselves, "Does this act
involve CONGRESS, or the making of a LAW?"  The answer is "No", it is the
free act of the employees of that institution.  Since when were the
employees of a Public School or Post Office members of Congress?! Since
when did they ever make LAWS?!

It was, in fact, the desire of the Founding Fathers of the U.S. to promote
religion in general as a benefit and necessity for the general welfare.
Proof positive that "praying" is not against the Constitution is that
immediately after the Constitution was ratified, Congress passed a
resolution requesting the President to recommend a day of "public
thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging....the many signal
favors of Almighty God..." And George Washington's proclamation begins,
"Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of
Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly
to implore His protection and favor...". Today of course, a candidate for
the Presidency who would do such things would be labeled as a danger to
society and a "religious fanatic" by the media.

In the same year as the Constitutional Convention, Congress adopted the
Northwest Ordinance which stated in part: "Religion, morality, and
knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind,
schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged."

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is
wholly inadequate for the government of any other." - John Adams

"The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected, in
one indissoluble bond, the principles of government with the principles of
Christianity. From the day of the Declaration...they were bound by the laws
of God, which they all, and by the laws of the Gospel, which they nearly
all, acknowledged as the rule of their conduct." - John Quincy Adams- 6th
President

"Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity,
religion and morality are indispensable supports. Whatever may be conceded
to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure,
reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can
prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
- George Washington (1796)

"Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody
the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should
be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our
institutions are emphatically Christian."
- U.S. Supreme Court, 1892

James Madison, "Father of the Constitution", said: "If the sense in which
the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the Nation...be not the guide
in expounding it, there can be no security for a faithful exercise of its
powers."

The conclusion is obvious. Christmas was originally instituted as a
National Holiday to commemorate the birth of Christ.  Anti-Christian forces
have gotten control of the Mass Media, and are slowly and persistently
working to destroy the influence of Christianity within society.

Unfortunately, those in public office feed off of public opinion molded by
the Mass Media, and the people suffer in more ways than one.  As Thomas
Jefferson said even about 200 years ago, "I really look with pity on the
great body of my fellow citizens who, reading newspapers, live and die in
the belief that they have known something of what has been passing in the
world of their times."

It must be added here for the sake of Catholic teaching, that the
Church does not approve of a Society where the State is entirely Separate
from the Church. The ideal to be striven for is a Catholic Society, whose
laws respect, conform to, and support the laws of the Catholic Church. Less
than this the Church does not approve of, but merely tolerates.

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