Although many of the rapidly-growing megachurches do not usually hold Christmas Day worship, it is extremely rare for Christian churches to cancel Sunday services.

As an alternative, multiple services will be held in the run up to December 25.

"This is a consumer mentality at work: 'Let's not impose the church on people. Let's not make church in any way inconvenient,' " said David Wells, a professor of history and theology in Massachusetts.

The executive producer even insisted that the Bible could not be read on network television. However, the creator of what has become a Christmas classic refused to edit or otherwise water-down the content.

In spite of network executives' concerns, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" made its television debut on Thursday, Dec. 9, 1965. The result: More than 15 million homes tuned in and it captured nearly half of the possible audience.

Muslims see the establishment of a Muslim community in the UK as a contemporary hijra. But an important question concerns which 7th-century hijra they compare it to: the hijra to Abyssinia in which the Muslims became contented and loyal subjects of a Christian king, or the hijra to Medina where they seized political and military power.

In a 16-page ruling, the Supreme Court said his sermon was protected by freedom of speech and religion.

Mr Green was the first cleric convicted under Sweden's new hate crimes law, which was amended two years ago to include homosexuals.

Anti-gay sermon

He has shown little regret for his comments when addressing the media. He has also said his comments referred to a homosexual lifestyle, rather than individuals.