I'm sure they feel very enlightened.
Posted on 12/26/2005 8:11:14 AM PST by Conservatrix
To the Editor:
"Last week I substituted at a local elementary school in Lebanon County. The lesson plan required me to read the 1882 poem “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore to two classes of students. While I can appreciate the poem for its literary value, the subject matter is offensive to me, and the reading of this poem to the children imposed values upon me which are against my deeply held religious beliefs. I could not in good conscience present the notion of Santa Claus as a truth to the children, and stated so.
No public school teacher should be required to teach a belief, or custom, or religion that he or she believes to be false, or be required to pass those purported falsehoods onto impressionable children, without the right to state a disclaimer. Furthermore, freedom of speech and religion, no matter how unpopular the speech or against cultural norms the religion, are protected rights under the Constitution of the United States. A secular public school should not be propagating any kind of religion. The belief in Santa Claus as a divine, magical, omniscient, powerful, giving, loving father-figure, to which children are taught to make supplications and requests, is a religion indeed-- a distorted substitute for the Judeo-Christian God; a false form of Christianity; a zealously-protected American idol.
In presenting the poem, I gave the children quick historical background about the Santa Claus myth-- its evolution from the historic Nickolaus, Bishop of Myrna in Asia Minor, who died in 343 A.D., to its amalgamation with ancient Western pagan traditions of German, Scandinavian and Dutch origins, to the current manifestation in the secular Christmas culture of today. (Dutch children, for example, would put their wooden shoes out at night for “Sante Klaus” to fill with candies.)
The current Santa Claus figure was popularized in the late 19th Century by artist Thomas Nast of Harper’s Weekly Magazine, who depicted “Saint Nick,” not as an elf, but a rotund, pipe-smoking man in a red and white suit. This is the deity to which countless public school children today are taught to make supplications, and about whom they sing their many songs at annual public school Christmas programs.
If people are upset about the revelation to children that Santa Claus is a myth-- which all children who are taught this lie find or figure out eventually-- perhaps it is because Santa is that zealously-guarded idol of their own modern religion. Therefore, as a religion, let Santa be kept out of the public school classroom (no more “Dear Santa” letters to line those school hallways)--or perhaps, in the interest of “diversity,” make his mythical, oversized personage share equal representation in literature, and song, and Christmas programs, with the other Person of the season: the Lord Jesus Christ, God made flesh, God with us."
How very Christian of you. Jesus would be very proud! Please share the love this holiday season.
Oh gee whiz!
That was supposed to be a joke! Get a grip! I found it funny, quite a bit actually, and laughed out loud. Read it to my daughter as well.
Did that really bother you that much? Didn't you find it even just a bit funny?
LOL, I loved it. It pays to have a sense of humor, it's more fun.
Preachin', you have hit the nail on the head in a sense here, giving me the words to elaborate on what I said in another post about this woman having another agenda with all this. Jesus can't be discussed in public schools, so Santa shouldn't be discussed in public schools. That's her bottom line here. And again, IMHO it is utterly reprehensible on her part to get 6-year-old kids caught up in a church-state battle that they don't understand. I repeat, she is no different, in her on way, than the loony on DU the other day who said that as long as 6-year-olds are starving in Darfur, 6-year-olds in the U.S. shouldn't have Santa Claus.
We do Santa Claus here, but I also tell my kids that even if there wasn't Santa Claus, presents, the Christmas Tree, etc, we would still be celebrating Christmas. I've also told them how lucky we are to be in America where we can celebrate Christmas in front of everyone. When they started understanding about other countries, I have told them that people cannot read their Bibles or celebrate Christmas in public because it is against the law.
I've tried to instill the real reason for the season is Christ, and we are very lucky to be able to celebrate it with presents, a tree, Christmas lights, and of course Santa Claus.
I'll tack this on, at the risk of flames. And I'll say up front, this is coming from a Christian, a Sunday school teacher and the parent of children who are enrolled, at great expense that we really can't afford but somehow with the help of God are making it happen, in a private Christian school. I do not think, at least from a prostlyzation or evangelical standpoint, Jesus SHOULD be discussed in public schools. Not because I or the Mrs. or my kids are ashamed of Jesus, or because of anything to do with the First Amendment, but because quite frankly the reality of the year 2005 is that there's no guarantee that the person prostlytizing or evangelizing on Jesus from the teacher's desk is going to be a good Baptist/Methodist/Lutheran/Presbyterian/Catholic or whatever, and I prefer to know a little bit about the theology of people who discuss religion with my children before letting them have that access.
And I'd really rather that last post have not come up with that number. :)
You might be OK, but it's still up for discussion.
Bible writers got the Beast’s number wrong, say scholars
Lots of discussion about it, though I'm still undecided.
I'm sure they feel very enlightened.
Cute kid! LOL!!
Obviously this teacher know very little about early childhood and how the minds of these young kids work.
You tricky devil you.
The statement to which I was responding asserted an absolute, to wit, that Santa Claus has no religious content, but, in fact, Santa Claus has an enormous pre-Christian religious position.
I agree with you that the teacher became an activist and not just a teacher. Conservatives are opposed to inappropriate activism and rightly so. No matter how angry a person gets, they should still respect boundaries. There are many teachers who don't celebrate Christmas, and the vast majority of them are able to handle it.
However, I am calling out the hypocrisy and inconsistency on this thread. Santa is not viewed as a myth or a fairy tale, and it is disingenous for Santa-supporters to draw those comparisons.
I was not rude to you, there is no call for you to be rude to me.
I did not believe fairy tales were real when I was a child, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. I had REAL dreams as a child. I did not see myself as a princess, but I liked reading about fictional ones.
I have no way of knowing that other people actually want their children to believe things that are not true. It isn't much wonder that people continue to believe convenient lies when they are adults. You've helped me to understand the world a little better (though appreciate it less), and I thank you for that.
Also, I am not questioning the way you raise your children.
I am questioning your arguments and justifications on this thread.
luckystarmom, I usually appreciate your posts, but I do not wish to post to you in anger.
And right now I am very angry that you don't give me the courtesy of at least reading what I say before you respond. You don't seem like that kind of person.
I made it very clear that I would never tell someone else's child that fictional characters are just that, fiction. Not if their parents want them to believe it.
I don't have a problem with the children, my questions are aimed at the adults posting on this thread.
I think it is disingenous to equate Santa with myths and fictional stories just for the sake of argument.
By the way, when I was a child (age of 4), I went to Disney World, but somehow I knew that they were characters. It was still fun.
I understand that you wouldn't tell other people's children.
Do you have children of your own? Because I am thinking that you are young. Disneyworld wasn't opened until the 70s, so I am thinking you are younger than me.
I just don't know of any parents that tell their kids that the characters at Disneyland (or Chuck E Cheese) are not real. What about seeing a magic act? I don't know of any parents telling their kids that the magician is just using tricks and doesn't really use "magic".
No one asked this teacher to tell the kids whether Santa was real or not.
Can we not let little kids be kids? Sorry, I just don't get the vitriol being shown on this thread. As was said in the movie Stripes.... lighten up, Francis.
My guess is that DameAutour is young. She mentions going to Disney World when she was 4. Well, Disney World didn't open until 1971. That puts her at least 10 years younger than me.
My guess is that she is young and just has not been around little kids enough as an adult, and she is probably not a parent.
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