‘Merry Christmas’ Bill Introduced Again In OK Senate
‘Merry Christmas’ bill gets introduced again in Oklahoma Legislature
By Rick Green
Lawmakers will wrestle with a variety of weighty issues when they begin meeting next month, but they also will find time to ponder more ethereal concerns, like trying to ensure teachers still can say “merry Christmas.”
Measures also have been introduced to allow clergymen to refuse to officiate same-sex marriages and to allow public schools to hold religious studies classes.
Recently, an Oklahoma lawmaker drew national attention with a bill prohibiting people from wearing hoods to disguise themselves in public, even though there is already a state law on the books to punish people who wear disguises while committing a crime.
American Civil Liberties Union officials say bills like these are a waste of time when lawmakers have more pressing issues to deal with in their yearly four-month session.
A “merry Christmas bill” was considered last year as well. It passed the House but died in the Senate. At one point, the House was tied up in a heated, 90-minute debate over whether the Kwanzaa holiday should be added to it.