Sunday, February 15, 2004
On Jesus, six-year olds and candy canes - Reflections on separation of church and state
ACLJ Files Federal Suit Against Oregon School Dist. After Student Prohibited From Distributing Christmas Card
February 9, 2004
(Portland, Oregon) - The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, today filed suit in federal court on behalf of a 6-year-old kindergarten student in Oregon who was prohibited from handing out a Christmas card to fellow students because the card was too religious and contained the name "Jesus."
I read the above first through another article and I went to the law firm site to actually get more details because I thought it was so absurd that this should be true, that the first news article was just probably some distorted overblown piece. But it is not.
You read this and it does make you wonder about the state of things for this to actually have taken place. Please note, we are talking about six-year olds here. Six-year olds handing out little Christmas cards. And the Christmas card that was banned, was banned because it was too religious? Because it had the word "Jesus" on it? Hello? What is a Christmas card supposed to say, "Let us Praise Athena, Zeus, Apollo and Mohammad?" Or, if it had said, "Let´s celebrate Christmas by buying a bigger and extremely expensive entertainment center, a notebook with all the paraphernalia they have invented, 30 useless pairs of shoes, stuff ourselves with fast food at our nearest **** drive-through, eat candy until we are sick, because it is the season not to mind any religion very much, let´s be jolly," then it would be OK?
More info (emphasis by me):
The lawsuit stems from a school Christmas party held December 19th where students were permitted to bring in cards or gifts and exchange them with students.
No restrictions were given to the students regarding what type of cards or gifts could be given out. Justin selected a card that had a candy cane ornament attached to the front. The card also included the following story: "The Meaning of the Candy Cane: Many years ago, a candy maker wanted to make a candy that symbolized the true meaning of Christmas: Jesus. The hard candy was shaped like a "J" to represent Jesus' name. The color white stands for the pureness of Jesus. The color red represents the blood Jesus sheds for us." The teacher saw the card, noticed the word Jesus, and forwarded the card to the principal who sent it to the superintendent's office.
School officials said Justin could not distribute the card because it would violate several policies that prohibit school officials from promoting one religion over another and advocating a particular religious position.
Has is it gotten to an insane point yet or not? And to think this is a teacher and these are school officials. Put a theoretically coherent idea into the hands (and minds) of idiotic officials and this is the result. They succeed in turning it into one of the most insane and equally problematic exercises one could conjure.
And for Christ´s sake (indeed), what a crime it is to leave any child in the hands of such people. What is scary, is to note that teacher takes card to principal. Does it stop there? Does principal think teacher is a tad fanatical and has lost what little judgement she seemed to have? No, principal takes card to superintendent! Thinking is absent all along the way, teacher, principal, superintendent. (I suppose superintendent would have taken card to the San Francisco mayor if he could get the chance. I am not going to write here what kind of a card this mayor would shove on six-year olds if he could).
I personally do not have a religious Jesus belief, but if somebody said I could not hand out a Christmas card with some Jesus story on it, because it is too religious, that is exactly the card I would buy for all Christmasses to come. In fact, I would love to flood the school with such Christmas cards. :-)
Separation of church and state, this is how it is. I need to find this article, lovely for this subject, questioning if the US was still One Nation Under God.
Only when convenient.
February 9, 2004
(Portland, Oregon) - The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, today filed suit in federal court on behalf of a 6-year-old kindergarten student in Oregon who was prohibited from handing out a Christmas card to fellow students because the card was too religious and contained the name "Jesus."
I read the above first through another article and I went to the law firm site to actually get more details because I thought it was so absurd that this should be true, that the first news article was just probably some distorted overblown piece. But it is not.
You read this and it does make you wonder about the state of things for this to actually have taken place. Please note, we are talking about six-year olds here. Six-year olds handing out little Christmas cards. And the Christmas card that was banned, was banned because it was too religious? Because it had the word "Jesus" on it? Hello? What is a Christmas card supposed to say, "Let us Praise Athena, Zeus, Apollo and Mohammad?" Or, if it had said, "Let´s celebrate Christmas by buying a bigger and extremely expensive entertainment center, a notebook with all the paraphernalia they have invented, 30 useless pairs of shoes, stuff ourselves with fast food at our nearest **** drive-through, eat candy until we are sick, because it is the season not to mind any religion very much, let´s be jolly," then it would be OK?
More info (emphasis by me):
The lawsuit stems from a school Christmas party held December 19th where students were permitted to bring in cards or gifts and exchange them with students.
No restrictions were given to the students regarding what type of cards or gifts could be given out. Justin selected a card that had a candy cane ornament attached to the front. The card also included the following story: "The Meaning of the Candy Cane: Many years ago, a candy maker wanted to make a candy that symbolized the true meaning of Christmas: Jesus. The hard candy was shaped like a "J" to represent Jesus' name. The color white stands for the pureness of Jesus. The color red represents the blood Jesus sheds for us." The teacher saw the card, noticed the word Jesus, and forwarded the card to the principal who sent it to the superintendent's office.
School officials said Justin could not distribute the card because it would violate several policies that prohibit school officials from promoting one religion over another and advocating a particular religious position.
Has is it gotten to an insane point yet or not? And to think this is a teacher and these are school officials. Put a theoretically coherent idea into the hands (and minds) of idiotic officials and this is the result. They succeed in turning it into one of the most insane and equally problematic exercises one could conjure.
And for Christ´s sake (indeed), what a crime it is to leave any child in the hands of such people. What is scary, is to note that teacher takes card to principal. Does it stop there? Does principal think teacher is a tad fanatical and has lost what little judgement she seemed to have? No, principal takes card to superintendent! Thinking is absent all along the way, teacher, principal, superintendent. (I suppose superintendent would have taken card to the San Francisco mayor if he could get the chance. I am not going to write here what kind of a card this mayor would shove on six-year olds if he could).
I personally do not have a religious Jesus belief, but if somebody said I could not hand out a Christmas card with some Jesus story on it, because it is too religious, that is exactly the card I would buy for all Christmasses to come. In fact, I would love to flood the school with such Christmas cards. :-)
Separation of church and state, this is how it is. I need to find this article, lovely for this subject, questioning if the US was still One Nation Under God.
Only when convenient.
