Oops, did I say Christmas? I meant to wish you Happy Holidays or a Cheerful Winter Season. Christmas, you see, contains that dirty little word ... Christ.

If you don't believe me, just ask the veteran first-grade teacher who was informed this week that she could not mention the word "Christmas" in her Sacramento public school classroom.

Imagine that. Christmas banned in a public school classroom. This interdiction is actually quite predictable, because the word Christmas and the concept of a holiday bearing the name of Christ contradict the situational ethics that pervade many public school classrooms. If there is no true right and wrong, there must not be a notion of a Savior or the need of a Savior.

However, such a ban is nothing less than religious persecution. In order to promote "diversity," these types of policies actually target individuals for their beliefs. It is systematic discrimination that is unconstitutional and illegal.

Tragically, the ACLU and similar groups have convinced many public school officials that the mere mention of Christ or a biblical reference is barred by law. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In the Harry Potter series, the evil character Voldemort is so feared that his name must never be mentioned. Similarly, real-life religious antagonists today are creating an environment that virtually prohibits the mention of Christ in public school classrooms or in the public square. By twisting the meaning of the Constitution, they have produced an atmosphere of fear regarding Christ and Judeo-Christian teachings.

Across the nation, school and city officials are banning Christian themes. Nativity scenes have been barred in some New York schools. A New Jersey middle school canceled a field trip to attend a performance of a play based on Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." In Lewistown, Pa., a Christian church was denied tax exemption because it distributes food to needy families (the activity was deemed not to be religious worship).

In Cleveland, Tenn., missionaries have been barred from placing religious literature on cars (even though other groups frequently do so). The Ten Commandments – the very foundation of American law – have been banned in many public arenas. (Thank God that Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore is leading the defense of the Commandments by legally defending his erection of a Ten Commandments monument in the rotunda of his courthouse.)

These alarming actions are part of a diabolical scheme by anti-religion devotees to create distinctive and unfair rules for religious Americans. These individual cases will eventually add up to a national climate of overt hostility toward Christianity (and Christians). It's really quite a frightening scenario, but we are literally watching it unfold before our eyes.

We have seen a federal court panel rule that the mention of God in the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional. Atheists are now attempting to seek the ban of congressional chaplains. Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State has admitted that he wants the word God erased from American coins. These people literally want a godless society, a concept that dramatically conflicts with the God-centered nation our Founders created and nurtured.

The agenda is clear. Christians must be prepared to stand ready to fight for their rights. It is apparent that our adversaries who wish to stifle us will not rest until they have silenced every last one of us.