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The bill goes into effect amid growing calls for President Obama to follow California’s example and use his considerable executive authority to halt deportations.

The working group includes the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, Alliance San Diego, American Friends Service Committee, Employee Rights Center, Islamic Center of San Diego, Justice Overcoming Boundaries, North County Immigration Taskforce, the San Diego Immigrant Youth Coalition, and the San Diego Organizing Project.

Some members of the public may be surprised or confused by this. It is no wonder, given the misinformation out there. But, sadly, the non-existent "War on Christmas" is in reality a cynical rallying cry for some fringe groups seeking attention.
In a Salon interview ("How the secular humanist grinch didn't steal Christmas"), Chip Berlet, a senior analyst at Political Research Associates, "one of the foremost experts on the religious right," says, "You have a dynamic here, where you have the Christian right hysterically over-representing the problem, and then anecdotally you have some towns where lawyers restrict any kind of display or representation of religion, which is equally absurd. It's a closed loop. In that dynamic, neither the secular humanists or the ACLU are playing a role."

In other words, the extremist groups have invented their own nightmare, and then feed off its effects.

Of course, meaningful freedom of religion is possible only because of a separation between government and religion. So, this Christmas, we ask those who wish a war in the name of Christmas to put down arms. Instead, why not take up these few simple guidelines for respecting the interdependent principles of freedom of religion and separation of church and state:

Christmas displays, including nativity scenes, are perfectly acceptable at homes and chu