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School Okays 'Christmas Witch,' Menorahs; Rewrites 'Silent Night'
By Jim Brown
AgapePress
December 9, 2005

(AgapePress) -- The "war against Christmas" rages on. A Wisconsin elementary school has changed the song "Silent Night" to "Cold in the Night," and secularized the lyrics.

Ridgeway Elementary School in Dodgeville may be taking a cue from the White House, which as been sending out greeting cards in the last few weeks, wishing recipients a happy "Holiday Season" rather than "Merry Christmas." The school's "Winter Program" features a secularized version of the traditional Christmas carol "Silent Night" with the following lyrics:

Cold in the night, no one in sight;

Winter winds whirl and bite.

How I wish I were happy and warm,

Safe with my family out of the storm.

A concerned parent whose child attends Ridgeway Elementary contacted the Florida-based Liberty Counsel, which has contacted the school. The legal group's president and general counsel, Mat Staver, explains that as part of its program, the school has also included decorations from other holiday themes.

"At the same time the school has changed the religious songs to secular," Staver says, "their so-called 'Winter Program' has included decorating classrooms with Santa Claus, Kwanzaa, menorahs, and even Labafana -- a term I'd not even heard of until this year." Labafana, he says, is "apparently a Christmas witch."

The attorney says Ridgeway is now a target of Liberty Counsel's "Friend or Foe" campaign. "As a result of this absurdness, Liberty Counsel has issued a demand letter on behalf of a parent whose child attends this elementary school, and who will be participating in this program if the school does not back down." That demand letter, he says, asks for an immediate change in the program -- or Liberty Counsel will file suit.

The basic premise of the "Friend or Foe" campaign is to educate the public that it is legal to celebrate Christmas in schools, public buildings, and private businesses -- including use of the word "Christmas," singing of religious Christmas carols, and displaying of Nativity scenes. According to Staver, there indeed is a war on Christmas.

"Our opponents in this Christmas campaign are not debating us anymore on the law," he admits. "They agree with us that the law allows Christmas. They are trying to say that, in fact, there's no problem going on in America."

But that is definitely not the case, Staver continues. "For those who deny that there is a war on Christmas, this Wisconsin school district -- where they changed the lyrics of 'Silent Night' to 'Cold in the Night' -- is essentially Exhibit A."

The Liberty Counsel president says the law is clear that Christmas is constitutional. But he notes that "when a public school intentionally mocks Christian Christmas songs by secularizing their content, they cross the line from a neutral position -- which the Constitution requires -- to a hostile position, which the Constitution forbids."

Staver says Ridgeway Elementary ought to realize that Christmas is a national holiday celebrated by 96 percent of Americans.

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