BTW ... I'm gonna say this, and I don't care if I do raise some hostile eyebrows. ;)
Merry Christmas!
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."
"Scripted by the ACLU..."
No, scripted from the heart and conscience of someone willing to live by what they believe to be true.
*Scripted! PRESCRIPED! Too contrived and very timely! Right out of the neoPavlovian leftist workshop. She is a cloned ideologue - pooped-out of the brainwash lab.
Key words and code words prove it.
BTW ... I'm gonna say this, and I don't care if I do raise some hostile eyebrows. ;)
Merry Christmas!
Keep your religious philosophy to yourself in the classroom or better yet get a job at a Kingdom Hall someplace. You'll fit right in with 'em.
If you think the lesson plan is somehow offensive to your delicate little sensibilities then show some real courage and quit.
L
Wow! Look at all the bile and venom this woman's actions have brought out, all because she told children about the MYTH of Santa Claus.
She's "scum", a "b***h", and *gasp!* a "liberal"! Some of these same folks, when confronted with the hypothetical you offered about abortion would applaud a substitute teacher for refusing to teach that abortion is okay, according to the "lesson plan" but Santa, whoa! That "b***h" should have stuck with the lesson plan because it's okay to teach children about a jolly fat guy in a red suit who "sees you when you're sleeping, knows when you're awake, knows when you've been bad or good so be good for goodness' sake" who delivers whatever they want to them, all in one night!
She really touched a sacred cow, this time, eh? She better not be teaching near Easter and tell the truth about that character or the fur is REALLY going to fly!
"If she said the same about God, because she was an atheist, or that homosexuality is a good life style, it would be okay because she believed it to be true?
Finally, somebody got it! "
No, somebody, didn't get it. She is a conservative, republican, pro-life, Christian who is not for homosexual marriage or promoting homsexuality. She could not teach those things to children either, if she was required to teach it.
"He sees you when you're sleeping; he know's when you're awake; he knows when you've been bad or good."... gee, that sound like the God you say you believe in.
You can't be serious?
Students can make distinction between Santa Claus, and that of the birth of the Christ child in a manger.
They don't mix the two up.
The teaching of Santa is not religion. Santa is a cultural icon, and therefore we continue to teach about the culture the students are immersed in.
I can't believe I am having to argue this point.
You still cannot refute that Santa is :
all-knowing
All-seing
rewarding the good
giving gifts
just like ..... God himself???????
Santa Claus is a mythological figure. Santa does not really exist. It is the idea of Santa Claus that is attractive. At age six, this will not be the first time these kids will have been exposed to the fact that Santa is not real. Other kids will have disabused them of that fact already, I guarantee.
Woa woa woa. There is to a santa claus. Where is the moderator to kicked this guy off our site.
Actually she just keeps digging deeper and deeper.
I suggest the "Holy Church Of Uptight Bitties".
L
agreed. I bet she's one of those mixed nuts who says "herstory" instead of "history".
We agree rarely, but this time we agree. For all the hoopla raised this year about Christmas and the lack of interest by many in the real reason for that celebration, it seems odd that so many want to perpetuate the silly fairly tale of Santa Claus.
A lot of conservative Christians oppose the entire Santa Claus myth specifically because it masks the true meaning of Christmas.
This teacher, apparently, is one of those who consider the Santa Claus story, as it is told to children, is not consistent with Christmas.
So, she explained the origins of Santa Claus to the students. And related it to Christmas as celebrated by Christians.
So, what do we have here: A bunch of the same people who were decrying the "War on Christmas" slandering a woman who is pointing out that Santa is not a deity, nor is Santa real.
"Twas the Night before Christmas" makes no mention of Jesus' birth. It doesn't mention the reason Christmas is celebrated at all. It's a strictly secular poem. It's about gifts and that sort of thing, and venerates a mythical character that distracts from the real story of Christmas.
I'm an atheist, and don't believe in the divinity of Jesus in the first place, but I'd like to see some consistency from those who do. Santa and this poem are purely secular, as presented here.
You want the "War on Christmas?" The commercial use of Santa Claus is at the heart of it. "The Night before Christmas" has nothing to do with Christianity, nor with the reason Christmas is celebrated.
"You can't be serious?Students can make distinction between Santa Claus, and that of the birth of the Christ child in a manger.They don't mix the two up."
Oh yes they do, my friend. I just heard the story of a man who, when he was young, was told finally that his parents lied to himn about there being a Santa Claus. The then-boy replied, "Dad, when are you going to tell me Jesus isn't real also"?
L
Okay, the teacher is a Christian, conservative republican. I like the way she delineated the history of Santa Claus, how he's depicted in other countries. That's fine. But she crossed a line because these were small kids, 6 and 7, albeit that they probably found out the truth on the school bus. If one child raised his hand and demanded to know if there really was a Santa Claus, she could have finessed the question, and frankly, there's a little Santa Claus in all of us and not just at Christmas. That spirit of caring and giving and generosity toward others. Katrina and the tsunami come to mind.)
Well put.
I am amazed that one of the few people who acutally gets the point of this whole thing is an atheist.
Thanks for getting it.
People who get their knickers in a wad over Santa seriously need to get a life, and most certainly shouldn't preach to fellow Christians. MYOB.
My impression from the original article was that she was a fool and a prig. She has now confirmed that initial impression, at length, in her own words.
Kudos, Theresa. The world needs straight-shooters like you.
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