I was teaching in a charter school near Grand Rapids, Michigan and had planned a Christmas musical – complete with drama, staging, props, etc. – that hit every December holiday I knew of. We had songs to celebrate a secular Christmas, a faith-focused Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and La Fiesta de las Posadas. Of all the songs we did, only one got me any grief – the faith-based Christmas one. Granted, Kwanzaa is not religious holiday which automatically made it “safe”. But no one raised so much as an eyebrow over the other songs (both the Hanukkah and Fiesta songs are heavily tied to faith traditions). I had three parents that complained that I included a faith-based song.

At the same time, a colleague in a sister charter school ran into a parent who raised such a stink – running to the media, hiring a lawyer, etc. – that this particular music teacher removed ALL holiday songs from the winter concert. I mean there were not even any secular holiday songs. This same parent protested, saying she wanted songs about the winter solstice (don’t know of any!) and songs about the “traditional” Christmas characters. The music teacher said that such a concert would be a prejudicial act by touting only one particular groups view of the holiday. The school board and the administration backed the teacher. This parent actually took the case to court and lost. The judge agreed with the teacher that what the parent wanted was just as biased as a strictly sacred music concert would have been.

Over the years I have taught choral music from middle school through high school and general music K-8. I also happen to be married to a man who is a Pastor in an American Baptist Church. I have included secular songs in my concerts but have also included songs that speak of the religious side of Christmas. My understanding of the establishment clause is that NO law is to be made regarding religion – either that only one is government approved or that one is illegal. It seems to me that completely banning all religious references at the holidays is violating the establishment clause every bit as much as only mentioning the religious side of the holiday. With the exception of those three parents I mentioned above, I never caught much flack for programs like “Christmas Celebrations from Around the World” (including both sacred and secular songs) and “Christmas Through the Years” (again, sacred and secular pieces). It seems that some people are seeking an “all or nothing” solution and completely banning any and all faith expressions at school violates the establishment clause. Don’t get me wrong – I do not want administrator led or teacher led prayer times nor do I advocate the reading of scripture at school concerts. When it comes to the issue of faith in school, people love to quote the first part of the establishment clause – “Congress shall make no law regarding the establishment of religion” – but we often ignore the second half – “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Are there lines teachers must be careful about crossing? Of course! But the establishment clause clearly states that the goal is balance – neither favoring nor banning the exercise of a particular faith tradition.

How about the year that my principal read the story of Jesus, Mary and Joesph looking for a spot in the manger on Christmas night straight from the book of Luke to the entire student body of our public school before our holiday band concert began.

Or how about the same principal reading a devotional about how America would rise from the ashes of the World Trade Center towers the same way that Jesus rose from the dead over the intercom on the first anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy?

Would either of those been in competition for first prize?

It was amazing to look at our multicultural population—we’ve got significant Jewish, Muslim, Hindi and Mormon populations at our school who are drawn to the temples for each religion that are within 5 miles of our school—during each of those violations.

Talk about feeling alienated.

Signed,
Staying on the Down Low….

- David Runneals

Will Dr. Becker, J.D. manage to type “Christmas” instead of “CHRISTmas?” That’s the $64,000 question.

By the way, your unhinged bias shows when you only cite Christmas as being around the corner. Golly gee, it’s almost as if the venom is spewed in one particular direction.

Christmas wishes for needy families!

Well done spotting the subtle suggestion that these Christian zealots want to spend December 25th beating needy pagans into a bloody pulp with their well-thumped Bibles – while passing on good tidings only to fellow believers, that is.

You folks need to start by admitting that Christmas has been a Federal Holiday for 138 years now. If you think that violates the Establishment Clause, that’s where you ought to begin your protest – not raising blood pressure over a construction paper reindeer in a school hallway.

I take CASTLE’s work and its practitioners seriously. This initiative, however? Not a bit.

We decorated our doors for christmas. Part of a spirit contest that runs through the school year. Some teachers have trees – though they make Chemistry themed ornaments and snowflakes using reactions.

There will be parties. My kids have asked. I said no – good reason this year – scheduled dissections and microscope work up until Christmas.

But I reject ms’s testimonial. The setting she describes is an open event – presumably any show of ‘talent’ would have been acceptable. The free responses were not coerced and were of the audience’s own volition.

ms jokes that she could have given a rendition of “I Have a Little Dreidel” – a song which I learned as a child in my rural, public school, and a song which I otherwise would not have encountered. She could have performed it but she chose not to. Instead, she joked with colleagues and then, as we can see above, posted about it on the CASTLE blog. That she was held against her will without any chance to opt out could have been challenged – and likely upheld.

There are egregious examples of political and religious coercion that exist in public schools. We’ve got urban legends, trusted testimonials and, in some cases, video evidence. No one denies that.

But the examples cited above – including CASTLE’s bizarre, intellectually/socially misguided mission here – fail to recognize the difference between the indoctrination of values and common cultural literacy.

It would be ridiculous to suggest that spending time on songs of the American Civil Rights movement and its social protest is a violation of the Establishment Clause even when those songs are heavily religious [and Christian, no less!]. Take, for example, “We Shall Overcome,” a staple of that era. Our jurists here fail to protest that such demonstrations of our culture are really religious evangelism. In that example they recognize a difference between culture and indoctrination – and they’ve reached the proper conclusion. Even so, there’s no reason to pretend that their selective discrimination is not based on their political and social preferences.

They are, in a phrase, intellectually dishonest. If they were truly committed to tying these commonplace celebrations of Christmas to that list of Establishment Clause violations, they’d plop Joel Osteen and Rosa Parks in the same category.

Mr. Anderson and the CASTLErs – as well as future commenters, surely – seem to suggest that celebrating, or even recognizing, these cultural elements constitutes a rejection of all others. This simply isn’t true. That suggestion isn’t any more valid than if one attempted to make the case that our celebration of American Independence Day every July 4th carried with it a contemptuous attitude toward countries with different histories or forms of government.
There’s a reason that most calendars include the Commonwealth countries’ Boxing Day, and it isn’t because we’re filled with hate toward celebrations that aren’t our own.

This contest is glib, ideologically-driven tripe [though I'll admit that a little bit of stale jurisprudence was ground and sprinkled on top]. I may have to start a similar competition.

Unlike this event, there won’t be a December 23rd deadline, and I won’t bother to wish anyone luck. It’s clear that the education world doesn’t need it this time around.

Merry Christmas, folks – and if you celebrate something else, or nothing at all, may you wish me a merry one of those. I’ll happily celebrate it with you.