i'm kim lawton.here's much more on our website, including more about the festival of lessons and carols. you can comment on the stories and share them. audio and video podcasts are available. follow us on twitter or facebook where i have a fan page, now, too. you can watch us on smart phones and iphones. to find out more, join us at pbs.org. more music from the northwest boy choir. ♪ ♪

i'm kim lawton reporting. >>> finally, a christmas greeting.t no time of year are the secular anthe sacred in is country so obviously intertwined as they are right now, leading up to christmas. on one side, there's santa claus and his reindeer. on the other, the infant jesus, in the manger. we sing "santa claus is coming to town." christians add, god already came. one minute you hear "jingle bell rock." the next, "o holy night." we read out loud "the night before christmas," and/or the nativity stories from matthew and luke. some of us try to divide up the images on the rds send. aormal tivi sne for traditional christians, although this one seems to have left out the shepherds. something religious but less formal for liberal christians, who probably would not mind the presence of a cute but very unbiblical rabbit. and a nice ecumenical poinsettia for everyone else. some cards bring wishes for a blessed christmas. others just, happy holiday. so what to say to our viewers, of many beliefs and traditions? how about a happy, healthy a autiful seaso

also kevin eckstrom, editor of religion news service, and kim lawton, managing editor of "religion and ethics newsweekly." we begin with a video reminder of the major events of 2010 assembled by kim. >> it was a challenging year for interfaith relations, as american muslims faced new tensions on several fronts. plans for an islamic cultural center near the site of ground zero generated a firestorm of debate and protest, and the proposed construction of mosques in other communities generated opposition as well. a florida pastor's announced intention to burn the quran on the anniversary of 9/11 set off an international furor, including violent protests in several muslim nations. the pastor eventually backed off his plan, but controversy continued. leaders from several faith traditions joined with islamic leaders to denounce what they called "growing islamophobia" across the country. meanwhile, amid several high-profile arrests of american muslims allegedly potting terrorist attacks, u.s. mainstream islamic groups launched new campaigns to combat extremism within their communities. >> san

our managing editor kim lawton has been talking to relief workers in haiti. kim, what do they tell you? >> reporter: well they're telling me that the situation is a lot more difficult than many people here may realize the political unrest, protests in the streets, sometimes violent clashes have really created a situation where it's hard for people to get around. many of the relief groups and the faith-based groups have been on lockdown for several days in port au prince but also in other cities around haiti. >> lockdown meaning they don't go anywhere? >> reporter: they are told don't go anywhere. don't go on the streets. and i understand that you can't even get anywhere if you try to get on the streets. there are these big barricades, and even stones and rocks. sadly, haitians are dragging bble from the earthquake that still hasn't en cleared away. they are dragging that into the streets so people can't get around, which means the workers can't get to the cholera clinics. they can't get to the rebuilding projects and it just puts all of that help further back.