Guest Post by Morbo
It’s not even Halloween yet, but the religious right can’t wait to start suing public schools over Christmas controversies.
Unfortunately, it’s not just Fox News. Recently, the Liberty Counsel, a Religious Right legal group affiliated with Jerry Falwell, joined forces with the Christian Educators Association International to kick off an intimidation campaign designed to scare public schools into doing things their way.
The groups claim attacks on Christmas in the public schools are common. A press release issued by the organizations reads:
“Public school students have the right to distribute religious Christmas cards to their classmates, wear clothing or jewelry with religious themes or messages, and sing Christmas carols during choral or talent performances. Teachers have the right to display nativity scenes alongside secular holiday displays and may include Christmas in a discussion about the holidays. In the past few years, students have been suspended for distributing candy canes with an attached card describing the Christian celebration of Christmas. Students have been told they may not say “Merry Christmas,” may not sing Christian Christmas carols, or may not wear red and green. These and other forms of discrimination against religious viewpoints will be challenged in court.”
Let’s look at some of these assertions in a little more detail.
* Public school students have the right to distribute religious Christmas cards to their classmates, wear clothing or jewelry with religious themes or messages, and sing Christmas carols during choral or talent performances.
The stuff about Christmas cards, clothing and jewelry is correct. But students have no constitutional “right” to sing Christmas carols during a holiday concert. Kids sing or play the material the music teacher prepares for them. School officials can make the music all secular if they like or simply not have a concert at all. However, there is no constitutional requirement to ban religious music from a concert. Most schools use a mix of secular and religious music, and it seems to work out fine. If Falwell wants to sue a school for failing to include “Silent Night” in the concert he has the right to do that. But it’s stupid, and he will lose.
*Teachers have the right to display nativity scenes alongside secular holiday displays and may include Christmas in a discussion about the holidays.
True. Courts have said this for a long time. The objective instruction about religion in public schools is permissible and even desirable. I’m not aware that anyone is trying to stop it. A teacher can use a Nativity scene or a menorah for educational purposes. Using them as holiday decorations is a no-no.
* In the past few years, students have been suspended for distributing candy canes with an attached card describing the Christian celebration of Christmas.
If this did indeed happen somewhere, it may have been for reasons that have noting to do with fears over religion in public schools. I can think of several reasons why school administrators might curb student distribution of candy canes. In my daughter’s school, some children have highly specific food allergies. If school officials don’t watch what kids are eating, a lawsuit might result. Some parents don’t want their children eating a lot of candy. No school is required to allow a student to open a part-time candy store on the premises.
Also, while school administrators are required to permit students to pass out religious material in a non-disruptive fashion, they don’t have to tolerate unruly behavior. If little Hunter or Brianna was disrupting class or interfering with the educational environment with this distribution, school officials can put a stop to it.
* Students have been told they may not say “Merry Christmas,” may not sing Christian Christmas carols, or may not wear red and green.
Oh, please. Where did these incidents happen and when? I am almost certain these are urban legends. A few years ago, a story circulated on right-wing websites that children were banned from saying “Merry Christmas” in Alaska’s public schools. A reporter called the state Department of Education. A spokesman there, employing the colorful vernacular beloved by residents of the Last Frontier, called the claim a word that rhymes with “full kit.”
If kook right groups are going to make inflammatory charges like these, they had better be prepared to back them up with specifics. Otherwise, I’m going to assume these are just made-up tales designed to make someone reach for a checkbook.
Here’s the bottom line: Christmas has both cultural and religious meanings in America. Public schools may recognize both aspects but not celebrate the latter. Celebration of Christmas as a religious holiday belongs at home and in church.
A little common sense is helpful. Non-Christian children who don’t want to take part in holiday-related events should not be pressured to do so. (I’d say the same for fundamentalist kids who oppose Halloween.) The school’s approach should always emphasize education, not indoctrination. A public school December concert should not consist of entirely religious music. A mix of the secular and the sacred it OK. (I’m summarizing several decades of court rulings here.)
In other words, if your local public school is putting on the type of Christmas pageant found in “Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown,” they need to stop. I love the Peanuts gang as much as anyone — and I stand in awe of Linus’ elocutionary skills — but that thing has always bothered me. It belongs in a church, not a public school.