Christmas card with 'Jesus' banned

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Tuesday, February 10, 2004

[JohnHuang2]

BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS
Christmas card with 'Jesus' banned
Mother suing after son's offering confiscated, sent to superintendent

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Posted: February 10, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

Kindergartners at a public school in Oregon were invited to bring cards to a Christmas party, but a teacher barred one student from distributing his holiday greeting because it mentioned Jesus Christ, prompting a lawsuit filed yesterday.

The Gresham-Barlow district near Portland said Justin Cortez could not distribute the Christmas card because it would violate district policies prohibiting school officials from promoting one religion over another and advocating a particular religious position.

The Virginia-based American Center for Law and Justice filed the case on behalf of 6-year-old Justin and his mother Julie Cortez.

The ACLJ said the suit contends Justin's card is student speech and part of a broad, balanced Christmas party where other students distributed candy canes, cards and other gifts.

The suit also contends the school district violated one of its own policies designed to protect the religious beliefs of students. One policy states "[c]are must be taken to ensure that students do not experience exclusion because of their religious beliefs or practices."

Stuart J. Roth, senior counsel of the ACLJ, called the school district's barring of a Christmas card with a religious reference "absurd."

"The facts of this case are clear: The school district not only violated the constitutional rights of this student but also ignored its own policy designed to ensure that the religious beliefs of students are protected," Roth said.

Justin, who attends North Gresham Grade School in Gresham, Oregon, brought his card to a Dec. 19 Christmas party. The students were invited, without any restrictions, to bring cards and gifts for their classmates.

The card selected by Justin had a candy cane ornament attached to the front and included a story.

The story read: "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."

When Justin's teacher noticed the word Jesus on Justin's card, she forwarded it to the principal who then passed it on to the superintendent.

The lawsuit – which names as defendants the Gresham-Barlow School District, the school board, the superintendent and assistant superintendent – contends the school district violated Justin's rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

The ACLJ is asking for a permanent injunction to ensure "the discriminatory policies of the school district are halted."

The public-interest law firm also wants the court to declare the policies unconstitutional.

[JohnHuang2]

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

Quote of the Day by Milligan

[longtermmemmory]

bump

[beckysueb]

This sad! To single out a 5 year old child with all this PC claptrap. Probably confused the poor child into never giving another gift! This is pathetic!!!!

[raybbr]

Oh my sweet aching A$$. Do these numbskulls know that That Christmas is the celebration of the birth of (Jesus) Christ?

[wgeorge2001]

This won't stop until either the liberals or the conservatives take full control of government. The Christian haters,those who destroy and wreak havoc, are liberals that have wrested government and public schools from parents into their greedy and destructive hands.
There is not enough room in America for communist liberalism and free republic conservatism; one must destroy the other. I see no other answer until the Lord returns.

[beckysueb]

They are trying to get the word "Christnas" banned and call it "winter holiday" and just use snowflakes and stuff as decorations.

[beckysueb]

Sorry that should have read Christmas. Got to use my spellchecker.

[trebb]

policies prohibiting school officials from promoting one religion over another and advocating a particular religious position

I wonder how much they're paying this 5-year-old "school authority".

No wonder public schools can't teach our kids anything - the authorities and teachers are stupid, ignorant asses.

[4CJ]

No wonder public schools can't teach our kids anything - the authorities and teachers are stupid, ignorant asses.

Bump. Heard this on the news into town this AM, how ludicrous can they get?

[PleaseNoMore]

... promoting one religion over another and advocating a particular religious position.

Umm, the school didn't give the card out. The kid did. The school wasn't promoting anything. The kid was exercising his right. Duh.

[The Wizard]

shut these assholes down....

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Welcome to the People's Republik of Amerika. Signs of things to come.

[garylmoore]

God Bless the ACLJ.

[Judith Anne]

I'm glad they're being sued. And this mother is doing the right thing by suing. I'm sick and tired of the ACLU (as opposed to the ACLJ which is sticking up for this child) dictating where and exactly how we can celebrate Christmas when we're 5 YEARS OLD!!!!

The candy cane story is dear to my heart. And I know that the ACLU thinks that the Christmas holiday ought to be called the Winter Holiday, to keep ANY mention of Christ out of it--but it's time to shut this politically correct COERCION down!

[carmody]

If secularism is their stated goal why do they allow vacation during a Christian holday? The department of education and teacher's unions should be forced to confront the American public with their demands for secular education. No God in school; no Christmas or Easter vacation. All public schools should remain open on Christmas day. Winter vacation should start Jan 1st and spring break should be in March without regard to where Easter falls on the calendar.

I think the teachers union would find many converts to Christianity if the teachers were forced to work through the Christian holidays.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Indeed. And let's hope this never happens to another child. The religion clause in the constitution has nothing to do with banning Christmas cards or pictures of Jesus. Unfortunately, a lot of very misguided Americans empowered the statist secular humanist monopoly on education because of religious bigotry. Sadly, that bigotry goes on. We need "school choice" for all Americans and to end the sad, pathetic, secular humanist socialist kind of education that Americans let themselves slip into. It's a sham. And it's been ruining American culture and society for decades. We need to support Christian education and Christian culture.

We should end the secular humanist socialist monopoly on public funds for education. And give back our country and our culture to moral, Christian Americans.

[searchandrecovery]

...and just use snowflakes and stuff as decorations.

As an athiest, snowflakes remind me too much of the Jewish Star of David. Ixnay on the snowflakes. Sorry. Also, no candycanes - everyone konws they're just the "J" in Jesus. I get upset just talking about this - I may sue you for posting things that upset me.

[Kryptonite]

School choice is a solution.

So are lawsuits like this one.

And so is making certain that the socialists' efforts to hijack the judiciary are stopped in their tracks. This would never be an issue if "separation of church and state" was not written into a court decision as if it existed in the Constitution.

[reagan_fanatic]

LOL!

God still loves ya though..

[Sacajaweau]

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

I can't interpret this to read that state run schools have the right to prohibit the free exercise of Religion, no matter how hard I try.