FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATED:        September 16, 2009

CONTACT:    Dave Welch

                    832-688-9166

Coalition of Clergy Oppose “cleansing” of Christmas from textbooks

Inter-racial pastors’ organization states that replacing national holiday with unknown religious observance is “multiculturalism gone wild”

Houston, TX -   The Texas Pastor Council, an inter-racial, inter-denominational organization representing local pastor councils in Houston, Austin, Beaumont, El Paso and other pastors throughout the state, issued the following statement to the Texas State Board of Education in response to proposed changes to the social studies textbooks:

“The recommendation to remove references to Christmas in Texas social studies textbooks and instead include a Hindu holiday not even practiced by all of the population who adhere to that religion has the appearance of political correctness and anti-Christian bigotry.  Regardless of differing views on the historical development of the modern Christmas celebration on December 25 in relation to historic Christianity, the clear and unmistakable identity of this holiday is grounded in celebrating the birth of the most important religious figure in history.

Over the past two hundred years this holiday has become a central religious and cultural icon in the United States and worldwide for many reasons.  Its impact on every aspect of American life is indisputable and also unmatched by any other religious celebration of any faith.  Asserting that because Easter is mentioned as the “Christian” holiday, apparently applying a “quota” system to education irrelevant of actual significance, is indefensible.

Proponents of this change claim that it would assure inclusion of the “major religions” in this country.  According to the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, Hindus represent only 0.7 percent of the population as opposed to 78.4 percent who profess Christianity in some form. The point is not to demean Hindus as much as to expose the continued assault on logic, reason and academic standards in general and certainly the Christian faith in particular by anti-religious elitists and ultra-liberal special interest groups like Texas Freedom Network.

Removing religion from the discussion altogether, there is simply no rational defense of equating Christmas and Diwali in historic, cultural, social and economic significance within this state and in the nation.  Education of our children would not be served by this change.  While it would certainly not remove Christmas from the hearts, minds, lives and practices of the super-majority of the people who celebrate it each year, it would be another indication of the hostility among some educational elite toward the aforementioned academic excellence and Christianity.

We urge the State Board of Education to reject multiculturalism gone wild, reject the removal of Christmas from the textbooks and retain the current standards including this significant holiday.”

PLEASE NOTE:  The SBOE is conducting hearings on this issue today so we encourage pastors to activate your Citizenship/Community Impact ministry teams to get the word out to your congregations and call SBOE members, urging them to retain the reference to Christmas in the social studies textbooks.