The town of Piedmont, Alabama "wanted to honor the reason for the season" during their annual Christmas parade, "and that landed them in a world of trouble with a group of out-of-town atheists," Todd Starnes writes. 

"The parade committee selected 'Keep Christ in Christmas' as the theme of Thursday night’s parade. Seeing how there’s a church on nearly every street corner in town -- no one gave it a second thought," Starnes explains.

"I was totally shocked when I received the letter. It’s a small town. It’s a small Christmas parade. We didn’t think there would be any problems at all," Starnes quotes Mayor Bill Baker as saying.

"Little did the mayor know that his town was about to be infested with an ill-tempered gaggle of atheists from Wisconsin -- the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF)," Starnes continues. "They alleged that a single person in Piedmont had complained about the parade theme -- and the FFRF sent the mayor a threatening letter." 

According to Starnes, the letter complains that the theme of the Christmas Parade "alienates non-Christians and others in Piedmont who do not in fact have a 'strong belief in prayers' by turning them into political outsiders in their own community." Furthermore, the "sentiment of 'Keeping Christ in Christmas' does not qualify as a secular celebration."

Comment: The atheists are absolutely wrong. Nothing in the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution forbids the free people of the United States from freely and publicly exercising their respect for and commitment to the truth of Christianity.

The 1st Amendment places a prohibition on the Congress of the United States, not on the people of the United States, and that amendment forbids the Congress from making any law "respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

This atheist organization is extremist in nature. Christians in America, as well as all others who value truth in governance and freedom in their corporate and individual lives, would do well to insist on practicing what is the mainstream of America -- that is, the public recognition of the Creator as the integration point of civil life in the United States.

After all, the Declaration of Independence states, "All men are created equal" and "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
. . . among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Furthermore, "to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men."

Live free, people of Piedmont. Reject the chains of atheists.