As traditional Christian-themed activities are being banned, Christians from around the country are pledging civil disobedience to “unjust laws.”

Many Michigan Christians have signed a 4,700 word declaration that advocates civil disobedience in the face of recent legal action that is outlawing Christian-themed holiday songs.

A U.S. Court of Appeals recently ruled that Christmas songs such as “Silent Night”, “Joy To The World” and “Oh, Come All Ye Faithful” couldn’t be played at a public school yet songs such as “Rudolph The Red-Nose Reindeer” and “Frosty The Snowman” were allowed.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ban by the Maple-South Orange school district in New Jersey. The Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor took the school district to court and said in a press release it will likely appeal.

The ruling is part of what some believe is an overall attack on Christianity. In October, the Macomb County Road Commission stopped a nativity scene that had been on public property for 63 years from being displayed on its property.

Some Christians are starting to fight back. Several religious leaders in Michigan have signed The Manhattan Declaration. It’s a document that defends three “truths” – 1) the sanctity of human life, 2) marriage is between a husband and wife and 3) the rights of religious liberty.

http://manhattandeclaration.org

The site states that those rights “are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture…”

It also advocates civil disobedience. It states followers “will not comply with any edict that compels” them to participate in abortions recognize “immoral sexual partnerships” and they will not be “intimidated into silence.”

There were eight people identified on the Manhattan Declaration Web site as religious leaders from Michigan who signed. They are Brett Elder, executive director of the Stewardship Council in Grand Rapids; Adam Cardinal Maida, archbishop emeritus of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Detroit; Rev. Franics Malone, professor of Sacred Scripture at Detroit’s Sacred Heart Major Seminary; Dr. Cornelius Plantinga, president of Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids; David Schuringa, president of Crossroads Bible Institute in Grand Rapids; Fr. Robert Sirico, founder of the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids; Rev. Allen Vigneron, Archbishop Roman Catholic Diocese of Detroit; and Dr. Joseph Stowell, president of Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids.

Mark Petzold of the Tea Party of West Michigan was one of the 187,000 people who also signed the Manhattan Declaration.

“I signed the Manhattan Declaration to show support and solidarity with my fellow Christian leaders that put their lives on the line every day,” Petzold wrote. “While the threat of life is not abundantly overwhelming at this point, the threat to our way of life is at threat. I believe that we (Christians leaders) will be persecuted to various extents as time unfolds in the near future. I believe that we will become increasing blamed for the demise of our financial system because of the lack of solidarity and more so, the outward expression of distain for the misguided ways of our government.”

Petzold said Christian leaders have much at stake by signing.

“For clergy, their signing may mean lost membership, lost tax exemption status, possible persecution for committing ‘hate crimes.’ Doctors and pharmacists can lose their license. For me, I can lose my job. I will not actively push my beliefs on my fellow staff members, but I will not sit idly by and compromise my beliefs. The fear of losing my job will not alter my actions or silence my voice, especially on my own time.”

Petzold said the recent court rulings are part of the struggle.

“There is not only the spiritual side of these lawsuits, but this is also tradition and heritage. There is no logical reason to change other than leaving our Christian belief system and replacing it with something else. Christians are being forced to change our way of life in our own community. How well would it work if we went to Saudi Arabia and demanded that they remove Muslim artifacts? We make decisions based on our belief structure. Religion counts.”

The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan has challenged the New Jersey’s school policy in federal court.

The law firm said the school district’s ban on religious music conveys a government-sponsored message of disapproval and hostility toward religion in violation of the Establishment Clause.

The “Establishment Cause” of the First Amendment in the Constitution states that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”

“Christmas is a national holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, not the birth of Frosty the Snowman or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” Richard Thompson, president of the Thomas More Law Center, said in a press release. “This ruling is another example of how the courts have tyrannically twisted the Establishment Clause as a weapon against Christians in the war on Christmas.”