Posted on 12/09/2005 1:40:49 PM PST by Nick Danger
Pinging for some classic images.
My very lovely Nativity scene card and a God Bless You note went out yesterday. It just warms your heart to send Christmas Blessings to one and all!
I love this!
Why don't some of you lawyers here file a RICO suit against the ACLU?
What a joyous season this would be if the ACLU had its way.
Merry Christmas PING!
What country are you in?
I bet she was so mad, her framed picture of John Kerry tilted all by itself.
What country are you in?
A RED state in the USA. Please don't tell the aclu. ;-)
Censoring Christmas or cultural inclusion
http://www.post-trib.com/cgi-bin/pto-story/news/z1/12-12-05_z1_news_01.html
Dec. 12, 2005
A year after “Silent Night” factored into the decision to fire a popular Portage principal, the song will once again ring through the halls of Myers Elementary School.
Jane Larson, the former principal of the school, has claimed in a federal lawsuit that she was fired for inserting the Christmas song into the school’s holiday program in 2004.
School administrators, meanwhile, say the issues were much deeper than that.
No matter how the lawsuit in Portage turns out, school systems in Lake and Porter counties are feeling pressure to recognize a diverse group of cultures this time of year. Others put off the debate and stick with tradition, but the discussion about Christmas’ public role continues to get louder.
Acknowledging others
As one of the few Jewish teachers in Merrillville, Beverley Seaver expects that Christmas music will be dominant during the holiday concerts, reflecting the religious background of the majority of the students. But it goes too far when there’s a Nativity scene or an overly religious musical theme, she said.
“That would cross the line,” said Seaver, a theater teacher who had a major role in changing Merrillville High School’s December break from being called “Christmas break” to “winter break.”
And while she agrees that Christmas music can be lovely — especially the classical songs from Handel’s Messiah — she said it would be great to acknowledge that there are people in the school who celebrate holidays other than Christmas.
“We say we’re so into diversity,” she said. “If there are songs that reflect this, it’s good to include them.”
Merrillville Superintendent Anthony Lux agreed and said he stresses this sentiment to teachers when they organize the concerts. Nativity scenes are not allowed, and the concerts are called winter concerts and holiday programs rather than Christmas concerts.
“If they’re going to do music as a variety of religious songs, then it’s OK,” Lux said. “If not, they should only limit it to traditional Christmas songs.”
Portage performances
Tom Wheeler, the Indianapolis attorney representing the Portage Schools in Larson’s federal lawsuit, said her dismissal was about more than just a song. Larson had been feuding for more than a year with a Jewish teacher at the school, Wheeler said. The choice of “Silent Night” was seen as an attempt to irritate the teacher once again.
This year, the songs will be sung at Myers’ December “Family Meeting,” and the new principal, Tom Sanidas, said he is not tampering with the musical selections one bit. “Silent Night” was selected by the school’s music teacher and will be included with eight other songs of various cultural backgrounds.
Sanidas said there will be cultural and historical information read by students before each song as well.
“It’s multicultural,” Sanidas said. “It looks great to me.”
Melody Logsdon, the music teacher for Saylor and South Haven elementary schools, said she will lead a sing-along at both of her schools that will also include Hanukkah and Kwanzaa songs.
“We’re doing a little bit of everything,” Logsdon said.
Though she’s aware of the public debate, as well as what happened last year at Myers, Logsdon said she hasn’t felt any pressure to include those songs.
“There shouldn’t be that problem because it’s supposed to be for everybody,” Logsdon said.
Logsdon said she was shocked when she heard about what happened to Larson and why.
Developing rules
Every year for 33 years, Chesterton High School has performed a madrigal during the first weekend in December.
Singers and musicians from all high school ensembles get together to perform a script set in 16th-century England, Linda Pauli, the director of choirs, said.
The script is Christian-themed, Pauli said, and its trappings include a yule log, a boar’s head, an evergreen tree and wassail.
“At the very end, we have someone who sings 'O, Holy Night’,” Pauli said.
No one has ever put any pressure on the choirs, Pauli said, not to perform the madrigal.
“I hope we don’t,” Pauli said. “We’re not expecting the kids to have a religious belief in what is being done there.”
The point of performing the madrigal, Pauli said, is so the students can learn about history and culture.
“(We’re) just trying to get what the background of some of the things that have become traditional in the holiday season,” Pauli said.
While people in Chesterton look forward to the madrigal every year, other school systems have rules that outline how holiday programs will work.
There are specific bylaws in the Munster Schools with regards to holiday music and celebrations. Teaching about religious holidays and celebrations involving secular decorations and songs are encouraged, but these observances are voluntary for all students. Anything overly sacred is prohibited.
“The rights of any minority, no matter how small, must be protected,” the bylaw says. “No matter how well intended, either official or unofficial sponsorship or religiously-oriented activities by the school are offensive to some and tend to supplant activities which should be the exclusive province of individual religious groups, churches, private organizations or the family.”
Michael O’Connor, assistant to the superintendent in Munster, said the winter concerts are a mixture of holiday music representative of the different cultures. At the elementary school level, the songs performed are typically secular but they do include some Christmas and Hanukkah music. At the high school level, the pieces are more complex and veer into religious classical music.
The Lake Central School Corp. doesn’t have a written policy for holiday music, said Tony Arini, director of instruction at Lake Central, but he said the holiday programs are generic and shy away from religious songs.
Contact Jon Seidel at 477-6015 or jseidel@post-trib.com
Contact Danielle Braff at 648-3079 or jseidel@post-trib.com
SONGS AT MYERS
Myers Elementary School plans to hold a sing-along at its “Family Meeting” this month. Among the songs on a list provided by the school for the program are:
“Deck the Halls”
“Chanukah is Here”
“La Pinata”
“Silent Night”
“Habari Gani”
“Winter Wonderland”
“Frosty the Snowman”
“Jingle Bells”
“Auld Lang Syne”
Thanks for my morning laugh! My card to the ACLU is on the way. Merry Christmas.
But then, in a last-minute effort prompted by the threat of a UACLU lawsuit, "Silent Night" was changed to "Cold is the Night", nyuk-nyuk!
BTTT for later action
Merry Christmas TSR! Card will go out today with the appropriate stamp!
free dixie,sw
LMAO, this is hysterical, doing it now, thanks.
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