Christmas festival goes on despite atheists' threats

Alliance Defending Freedom commends Mont. public schools for standing up for religious freedom

Tuesday, Dec 10, 2013

Attorney sound bites:  Rory Gray  |  Jeremy Tedesco

KALISPELL, Mont. — Alliance Defending Freedom sent Kalispell and Whitefish Public Schools a letter commending the school districts for rejecting two secularist groups’ attempts to stop student choir members from voluntarily participating in a community Christmas festival held at a local church.
 
“Schools should not have to think twice about whether they can allow choirs to participate in community Christmas events,” said Litigation Staff Counsel Rory Gray. “Courts have unanimously allowed students to sing Christmas carols at school. Nothing changes when they sing the same Christmas songs at a community festival instead. We commend the districts for rightly ignoring the baseless threats delivered by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.”

The Alliance Defending Freedom letter explains that “every federal court to examine the issue has determined that including Christmas carols in school choir performances fully complies with the First Amendment.” These performances at a church or elsewhere do not promote religion but allow students “to serve the wider community with their talents, see and learn from other choirs’ techniques, and gain valuable performance experience in front of a large audience.”
 
The letter also emphasizes that Alliance Defending Freedom is ready to freely assist public schools if the ACLU and the FFRF take legal action and continue their “unfounded demands that school choirs be excluded from the community Christmas festival.”
 
“A handful of misguided complaints and a misunderstanding of First Amendment law should not be allowed to harm students and deprive them of educational experiences that serve the community,” added Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “We hope other school districts will follow Kalispell and Whitefish’s example and reject the religious discrimination these groups promote.”
 
  • Pronunciation guide: Tedesco (Tuh-DESS’-koh),
 
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.
 
# # # | Ref. 43878

Legal Documents

ADF letter: to Kalispell and Whitefish Public Schools (2013-12-06)

Related Resources

Card Image
ABOUT Rory Gray

Rory Gray, Esq., serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, where he plays a strategic role on the Appellate Advocacy Team. Since joining ADF in 2011, Gray has worked diligently on key cases to preserve religious freedom and free speech in America. He has served as a member of the main litigation teams in Thomas More Law Center v. Bonta, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission,Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer,Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius, and Reed v. Town of Gilbert. Additionally, Gray has written briefs at all levels of federal and state courts, including an amicus brief in Newdow v. Congress of the United States, in which the Second Circuit upheld the use of the national motto, “In God We Trust,” on U.S. currency. Gray earned his J.D. from Washington and Lee University School of Law, graduating magna cum laude in 2007. Before graduating, he completed the ADF leadership development program to become a Blackstone Fellow in 2005. After law school, Gray clerked for the Hon. Bobby R. Baldock on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit from 2007-2009 and for the Hon. G. Steven Agee on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit from 2009-2011. A member of the state bars of Georgia, Arizona, and Virginia, Gray is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and various appellate and trial courts.


Print