Posted on 12/09/2004 5:48:45 AM PST by lightman
A high school principal canceled a dramatic performance of Charles Dicken's classic "A Christmas Carol," partly because he feared it would raise questions about the place of religion in public schools.
Mark Robertson, principal of Lake Washington High School near Seattle said his cancellation of a private theater group's Dec. 17 performance on campus primarily was because school policy prohibits charging admission.
But he said if admission were free, it would have prompted a "secondary discussion about public school and religion,'' the King County Journal reported.
When schools in the Lake Washington School District include religion in their curriculum, they must present a balance of many religions, Assistant Superintendent Cindy Meilleur explained to the paper.
"Teaching about religious holidays is permissible, but celebrating them is not,'' Meilleur said. "You can teach about a variety of religions, but should not emphasize a particular one."
Jane Reinhardt, artistic director for the Attic Theatre of Kirkland said the performance had been scheduled for several months.
"We're surprised it was canceled,'' Reinhardt said. "It seems a little late in the game. I'm surprised they didn't say this back in September.''
The cancellation also surprised commentators for two major media outlets in the Seattle area.
Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat describes himself as a "secularist and agnostic," but, pointing to a wider trend, wrote yesterday "even a lifelong doubter like me can see that something crucial is being lost, especially in the schools."
"If kids can't see a Charles Dickens play, hasn't the cause of separating church and state gone too far?" he asked.
Westneat said "A Christmas Carol" may have Christian themes, but it's not religious dogma. Character Tiny Tim's delivery of one of literature's best-known lines – "God bless us, every one!" – is the story's "most overt reference to religion," he noted.
In his regular opinion spot, Ken Schram of KOMO-TV said he talked with Robertson and found him to be a "nice enough guy," but "therein lies the problem."
"As the principal of Lake Washington High School, Robertson has joined the ranks of a sanitized society; the oh-so-nice, homogenized world of the politically correct," said Schram, known for his blunt commentaries.
"PC paranoia," he said, "has led to the banning of a Dickens classic, by a seemingly nice guy who probably thinks he's doing the right thing.
"God help us, everyone."
another day, another post confirming that parents should home school their children!
Libs are always eager to jump on the anti book-burning / book-banning / censorship bandwagon. The funny thing is, they always seem to be the ones doing the burning.
And they call US Nazis!!!!
Are these P.C. wackos out to destroy the entire rich heritage of cultural treasures because they hint of (gasp) religion??? This is so wrong, and when you consider where this may ultimately lead, i.e. to the destruction of these things, it's quite scary.
That mere references to (Christian) religion - in classic literature, no less - are now interpretted by some as the establishment of a state religion is beyond insane.
So, if Scrooge had learned nothing, stayed a miserable bastard, stuck with the principle that the spirits were just undigested bits of beef (vegans love that part)fired Cratchet(unions) and let Tiny Tim die(universal healthcare). They could show the play. Because they could call Scrooge a Republican and compare him to 'Dubya and that would be okay with the ACLU. Oh, and the lame beggars won't walk because John Edwards said only he and John Kerry can do that. But Private Sector Scrooge makes all those things right because of divine Intervention and you can't have children believing in that. Just ask Elian Gonzalez.
The way to remember the spelling of principal of a school is "the principal is your PAL" (in this case, also something else as you noted).
LOL
The Secular Taliban srikes again. They must be stopped.
Sorry, but I blame the parents and other members of the community for allowing this to happen. If there aren't at least a thousand people at the next school board meeting and an equal amount of phone calls then they deserve what they got. There has to be outrage!
In the world of Public Indoctrination, most principals fit that description. Eduducationists and lawyers have become the number one enemies of freedom.
This Principal will one day be wandering the empty school halls at midnight weighed down with his chains...
This is great.
If the United States becomes an atheist nation, it will fall.
Utterly ridiculous.
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