Posted on 11/25/2014 2:54:50 PM PST by NYer
A PTA of a public school in the Boston area apparently worked behind closed doors to prevent elementary school students from being exposed to the eeeeevil dangers of a...Christmas tree!!! (Cue the impending doom music.)
It's gotten so bad that one news report says that one board member may step down over the controversy over the fear of exposing children to secondhand Christmas.Sheesh. The Butler Elementary School PTA made a decision to cancel the annual field trip to see "The Nutcracker" ballet because supposedly some parents complained about the Christmas tree on stage in some scenes. Maybe they should've taken the kids to see Rent.
Hey, I could see kids objecting to seeing any ballet but let's face it, they're just excited to get out of schoolwork. But is The Nutcracker some crazy evangelistic screed? Not so much. It has about as much to do with Christmas as Dan Fogelberg's "Same Old Lang Syne." But the bigger question is should any mention of Christianity or any symbol of Christianity be forbidden as a topic in school? Do you know how many works of art are Christian inspired? Do you skip over Michelangelo or Raphael because some of their work is religiously inspired? Do music teachers ignore Bach? Should kids be forbidden to read Romeo and Juliet because there's a Friar character in it?
It's bonkers.
Another question is if some parents were really and truly offended that a Christmas tree makes an appearance on stage, tell them not to sign the stinkin' permission slip. Yes, it's that simple. But there's no report of anyone actually doing that. No, so maybe nobody was actually offended at all. You see, they're not offended enough to not allow their children to go, but they're going to complain enough to make sure all the kids can't go.
(Excerpt) Read more at ncregister.com ...
Ping!
I’m sure the parents who complain make sure their kids don’t watch any ads on TV or get on the Internet so they won’t be exposed to ads with Christmas trees.
An elderly priest who frequently substitutes at our parish was on duty last week just after being released from the hospital for pneumonia. He called it an imprisonment!
He complained passionately about the TV fare provided for his entertainment, commenting profusely about Honey Boo Boo, Say Yes to the Dress, and Bridezilla! He was scandalized about these bratty brides actually receiving the Eucharist! He went on to complain about the 24/7 Christmas shows, noting that NONE of them had anything to do with the birth of our Savior.
I thought he made some really good points. Think about it for a minute.
“I’m sure the parents who complain make sure their kids don’t watch any ads on TV or get on the Internet so they won’t be exposed to ads with Christmas trees.”
No because how else will they get their healthy share of gay sitcoms and reality shows?
And he is absolutely right! Had he not been subjected to this tripe at the hospital, he would have continued faith based homilies. Good for him! Perhaps more priests need to be "hospitalized" to gain a better understanding of what is being dished out to their congregants. Try not to imagine the bishops at the next USCCB meeting, strapped into chairs for 2 days of these programs. I'm sure their tone would change.
What I find amusing are the repeated Jewish-centric reading assignments my children get every year in school. It’s holocaust this and defamation that, and every one of them has references to the Torah and Passover in it. And, I have a very hard time imagining that where I live in the boonies of northwest Florida is somehow more concerned with Jews than anywhere else, which makes me think that this is going on everywhere. And, so I wonder, where are all the complaints about the religious stuff in these books, as well as all of the movie adaptations that are so popular to watch in classes after reading them? Where are the anti-Anne Frank protests? Where is the outrage over the Devil’s Arithmetic? Surely people are screaming bloody murder over dreidels and matzo, and yet I never seem to read about it.
Oh, I agree wholeheartedly with that poor priest! Reality TV is horrible! It’s really bad when you are in a semi-private room with a person who is hard of hearing and plays the TV at FULL volume.
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