To receive daily emails from Breaking Christian News to your inbox CLICK HERE


SHARE THIS ARTICLE Printer friendly version of this page

USPS Refuses to Send This Family's Christmas Cards Because Stamps Were Deemed "Too Religious": Lawsuit Threatened

Todd Starnes-Opinion : Dec 21, 2018  Toddstarnes.com

"I was shocked that a family photo that includes a historic cathedral in the background is considered too religious by the Post Office." -Tavia Hunt

(Dallas, TX)—[Reprinted with permission from Toddstarnes.com] Tavia Hunt, of Dallas, Texas, wanted to add a personal touch to her family's Christmas cards this year. So, she decided to create a customized stamp for her cards. (Screengrab image: via ToddStarnes.com)

Mrs. Hunt, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs chairman and chief executive officer Clark Hunt, selected a photograph that featured her family standing in front of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.

But the stamp was rejected because it allegedly violated a United States Postal Service regulation that bans any depiction of religious content on customized postage. Click here to read the regulation.

Mrs. Hunt had ordered the stamps on Nov. 28 through Zazzle and Stamps.com, third-party vendors approved and licensed by the USPS to sell customized postage stamps.

On Dec. 3 she received a message from Zazzle explaining why her order had been canceled.

"The order was canceled due to the prominence of St. Basil's cathedral on the background," the message read. "Due to the new rules on religious images from the USPS, we could not pass the image as provided."

A representative from Stamps.com sent the family a similar explanation.

"We are required to adhere to USPS guidelines," the message read. "Per USPS, all religious content is forbidden no matter the intent or faith."

Mrs. Hunt was stunned that her stamps were rejected.

"I was shocked that a family photo that includes an historic cathedral in the background is considered too religious by the Post Office," Mrs. Hunt said.

First Liberty Institute, a law firm that specializes in religious liberty cases, called the USPS regulation "confusing, onerous, and unconstitutional."

No one should have to go to court to send a Christmas card," General Counsel Hiram Sasser told Starnes Country.

First Liberty, which is representing Mrs. Hunt, is threatening to sue the USPS if they do not approve her postage stamps by noon on Friday.

"The regulation promotes unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination," Sasser wrote in a letter to the postmaster general.

"The Hunt family are devoted Christians who desire to share their religious identity with others via customized postage stamps during the Christmas season," Sasser wrote. "But as a result of the USPS regulation at issue, they are unable to do so purely because they depict the Hunt family posting in front of a historic cathedral and landmark."

Ironically, St. Basil's Cathedral was secularized and converted into a museum decades ago, Sasser noted.

And he rightly points out that the USPS currently sells and markets stamps that feature nativity scenes, menorahs and Diwali lamps.

"The USPS's absolute ban on private religious symbols on postage is unreasonable in light of its practice of selling stamps acknowledging directly to the public," Sasser wrote.

The USPS told me there are different regulations governing customized stamps and official US stamps.

"These regulations exclude any depiction of religious content from images that are eligible for use with Customized Postage products," a USPS spokesperson told me. "Official US stamps and philatelic products issued by the Postal Service are not subject to these regulations."

Let's just hope First Liberty's letter was not mailed to the Postmaster General with a customized religious stamp. Otherwise, it might be marked, "Return to Sender." Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here







SHARE THIS ARTICLE Printer friendly version of this page

To receive daily emails from Breaking Christian News to your inbox CLICK HERE

Other Recent Articles from Breaking Christian News

Hollywood Actress Takes Bold Stand, Defends Christians Reportedly Cut from Foster Care Over Biblical Beliefs

2 House Republicans Introduce Bill to Permanently Ban Federal Abortion Funding

Hamas Now Confirms Hostage Release for Saturday: Report

Here's Where DOGE Found DEI, Climate Waste and Abuse in Federal Grants

Lee Zeldin Just Discovered $20 Billion Laundered by the Biden Administration

AG Pam Bondi Announces New Lawsuits Against States Denying Immigration Actions: 'If You Don't Comply With Federal Law, We Will Hold You Accountable'

Dems Plan State-Level 'Resistance' to Federal GOP Trifecta

The Senate Confirms RFK Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary

'God Is Using It': AI Expediting Bible Translation; Less Than 1,000 Languages Now Need Translating

Majority of American Teens 'Very Motivated' to Know More About Jesus, Survey Finds

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna to Lead House Investigation into JFK Assassination, Jeffrey Epstein, and UFOs

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Calls for End of Ukraine War, Announces No New Aid for Ukraine

'Truly Absurd': Judge Dictates HHS Website Content in Defiance of Trump's Executive Order on Gender

If You Have Any Doubts About the Work D.O.G.E. is Doing to Root Out Fraud and Waste, Watch This Video

President Trump Welcomes Home Russian Hostage Marc Fogel: 'I Feel Like The Luckiest Man on Earth Right Now'

'Big Win' and Blow to the Swamp: Senate Confirms Tulsi Gabbard as Trump's Director of National Intelligence

'This Is Huge': FBI Finds Additional 2,400 JFK Assassination Records During Review-Report

First CBS News Poll of Trump Stuns Democrats

New HUD Secretary Works to 'Get Government out of the Way of What the Lord Established'

Former Lead L.A. Recovery Consultants at Hagerty, Firm Hired by Bass, Pleaded Guilty to Stealing Disaster Funds



Search the Articles Archives

Keyword:  
Author:  
Words Posted On:  
Day Month Year



BCN Plus

Follow BCN on Twitter
Are You Praying for Our Government Leaders?
BCN Staff

Steve Shultz
Steve Shultz, Managing Editor
Founder and Owner


Aimee Herd
Aimee Herd, Editor


BCN Plus
Are You Praying for President Trump?
 
 

All articles on this site and emails from BCN are copyrighted property of Breaking Christian News. Permission is given to link to, or share a BCN story if proper attribution is given to both the original writer and summarizer of the story. Breaking Christian News 2005-2019. All Rights Reserved.


Breaking Christian News is a division of Elijah List Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved


Disclaimer: Articles and links, as well as the source articles linked to; do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Breaking Christian News.

editor@breakingchristiannews.com