An Angry Anti-Christmas at School

Townhall.com ^ | December 24, 2010 | Brent Bozell

[Kaslin]

The metaphor "the War on Christmas" can be mocked -- as if Santa and his reindeer are dodging anti-aircraft fire. But many of our public schools have church-and-state sensitivity police with an alarming degree of Santaphobia. Anyone who's attended a school's "winter concert" in December with no traditional Christmas music -- not even "Frosty the Snowman" -- knows the drill. The vast Christian majority (that funds the public schools) is told that school is no place to celebrate one's religion, even in its most watered-down and secularized forms.

There are real-life stories of Scrooge-like school administrators, like the one at the appropriately named Battlefield High School in Haymarket, Va. A group of 10 boys calling themselves the Christmas Sweater Club were given detention and at least two hours of cleaning for tossing free 2-inch candy canes at students as they entered before classes started. They were "creating a disturbance." One of their mothers, Kathleen Flannery, told WUSA-TV that an administrator called her and explained, "(N)ot everyone wants Christmas cheer, that suicide rates are up over Christmas, and that they should keep their cheer to themselves, perhaps."

Of course, that level of sensitivity is not applied when it comes to slamming Christianity during the Christmas season. On Dec. 16, The Washington Post paid tribute to another suburban school in northern Virginia, McLean High School, for warming hearts during the season with "The Laramie Project." This play is a political assault, using transcripts of real-life interviews by gay activists out to blame America's religious people for the beating death of homosexual college student Matthew Shepard in 1998.

The Post championed how in the play, "there is a Baptist minister who says he hopes Shepard was thinking of his lifestyle as he was tied to the fence ... There is a young woman who grew up in the Muslim faith in Laramie and thinks the town and nation need to accept what the case has laid bare. 'We are like this,' she says."

This account actually underplayed what the character "lays bare" -- a guilt trip. In the script, she says "there are people trying to distance themselves from this crime. And we need to own this crime. Everyone needs to own it. We are like this. We ARE like this. WE are LIKE this." (Emphasis by the playwright, Moises Kaufman.)

That attack keeps coming. A Catholic priest insists the killers "must be our teachers. What did we as a society do to teach you that?" A character also reads an e-mail from a college student: "You and the straight people of Laramie and Wyoming are guilty of the beating of Matthew Shepard just as the Germans who looked the other way are guilty of the deaths of the Jews, the gypsies, and the homosexuals. You have taught your straight children to hate their gay and lesbian brothers and sisters -- until and unless you acknowledge that Matt Shepard's beating is not just a random occurrence, not just the work of a couple of random crazies, you have Matthew's blood on your hands."

This is vicious anti-Christian propaganda, plain and simple. Any teaching that homosexuality is a sin is an invitation to murder? These mudslinging culture warriors are celebrated as compassionate by administrators, while just down the road, the Christmas Sweater Club is given detention for spreading Christmas cheer.

The McLean High students putting on this play are candid. They are trying to walk people away from the Bible. "I hope that this changes some people's perspectives on gay rights and maybe opens their minds a little bit," proclaimed Lauren Stewart, 17, the student-director. "I think the way to progress on issues is to talk about them."

Another student added, "If one person comes into the theater and is on the fence about ... any discrimination and leaves questioning their beliefs, I think we've done this play justice."

Making people "have conversations" is presented as glorious. But it wouldn't be a constructive conversation if students were trying to convert people to Christianity -- only when you try to convert people away from it.

A little research shows plenty of "socially conscious" public high schools have staged this propaganda bombing, aiming to crush biblical "discrimination." But it takes a really special school administrator to let it be scheduled in the last two weeks before Christmas. It's amazing that at Battlefield High School, the accusation was that Christmas cheer invited suicides, but plays about murderous "hate crimes" that America has collectively committed by our "fear and ignorance of the Other" somehow should make our spirits bright.

[SECURE AMERICA]

War on Christmas?
Bring it on.
When people wish me happy holidays I wish then a Merry Christmas.
When people ask what I am doing to celebrate Christmas I reply “Well celebrating the birth of the Savior, what esle would I be doing”?
I am a Christian, But have never been very good with the turn the other cheek directions.

[turfmann]

Sad, indeed.

When I was in high school, the choir would enter the auditorium from the back, single file, singing “Come to the Manger”, and the concert would close with the Hanel’s Hallelujah Chorus (full orchestra & chorus with me on tuba), replete with a detailed explanation of why everyone in the hall should rise when it is performed.

[massmike]

I thought it was revealed several years ago that the Matthew Shepard killing was not “gay bashing,” but a botched robbery attempt that turned into murder?

You don't expect a little thing like facts to get in the way of the gay agenda,do you?

[EQAndyBuzz]

I would take it a step further and have an alternative play and chorus in front of the school.

When they call the police to throw people off of school grounds, have that attorney and video camera handy.

[Nextrush]

ABC News did the story using the case investigators and the perps from prison telling the real story of why they robbed and murdered Shepherd.

It was broadcast on a Thanksgiving night on “20/20.”

Shepherd’s death is taking on the mythological proportions that Storm Trooper Horst Wessel’s death did in Nazi Germany.

Here’s a kicker for you. When the play was performed at the high school that my alma mater here in PA the creeps from Westboro Baptist Church showed up to create a scene outside the performance.

[panthermom]

Yes, too many people just lay down for these stupid policies. They do it because they are afraid their kids will be missing out. Well sometimes it is good to miss out and stand up for yourself!

[Tribune7]

It should be pointed out over and over that the anti-Christmas crowd is trying to do is exactly what Hitler tried to do.

[OldSmaj]

...you have Matthew's blood on your hands.

Nope, don't think so.

I looked.

My hands have no blood on them.

Don't see the Christmas connection there, but...who knows nowadays.

The ability to connect the death of a homosexual with the attempted death of Christmas is an art that rests only with deranged liberal idiots.

Go to hell, obama.

[Mr. Silverback]

This is vicious anti-Christian propaganda, plain and simple. Any teaching that homosexuality is a sin is an invitation to murder?

If teaching that something was a sin caused people to go out and kill the people who commit that sin, the streets would be littered with the corpses of thieves, fornicators and blasphemers.

It shows how easily people are led these days that the libs show us these guys...

...and people believe that they were running to the radio to hear Focus on the Family every day.

It shows how easily people are led that we have two drug-addled punks who told their girlfriends they were going to rob a gay kid from a rich family and burglarize his house, and there's a whole play of people saying they murdered him because he made a pass at them.

[Westbrook]

> Paying property taxes to fund this crap is a violation of
> my first amendment rights.

“To compel a man to furnish moneys for the propagation of ideas which he abhors is tyranny and a great sin.”
~ Thomas Jefferson

Get your children *OUT* of the government school system as soon as possible. Children are its food, and the Beast must be starved.

The government school is best characterized as the Bus Ministry of the Church of Secular Humanism.

The school district is better understood by its Marxian name, the School Collective.

Why participate in this experiment in Communism?

Make whatever sacrifices you must to get your children OUT of there!

[Hayride]

Everyone is a Nazi who murdered Jews and Matthew Shepard, be miserable this solstice season and remember to support killing babies. Praise Mother Gaia.

[azhenfud]

Even as the “twisted” try with all their attempts to designify Christmas, they still acknowledge Him in their celebration of a “HOLY” day (holiday) and haven’t the good sense to realize it.

It’s ALL about Christ who is Jesus.

[originalbuckeye]

But I would bet that nearly every ‘Winter Concert’ has a Kwanzaa song in it. My son’s ‘Winter Concert’ 10 years ago did have Christmas songs but included sings about the made up ‘holiday’ of Kwanzaa. We were shocked then.

[originalbuckeye]

But I would bet that nearly every ‘Winter Concert’ has a Kwanzaa song in it. My son’s ‘Winter Concert’ 10 years ago did have Christmas songs but included songs about the made up ‘holiday’ of Kwanzaa. We were shocked then.

[Colonel_Flagg]

I rang bells for the Salvation Army this week, as I do every year. My bell-ringing partner, a vivacious young woman, would greet people with “Happy Holidays” and a smile as they walked by our kettle. We were both heartened to see how many people responded ‘Merry Christmas’ back to us, and then donated into the kettle.

There are still decent people left in this world. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

[GailA]

Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem, Oakridge Boys LINK

Oh Holy Night, Kate Smith LINK

[hosepipe]

Get some parents together and force the hand of the school authority's.. "get arrested".. "do it anyway".. "with a group big enough what are they gonna do".. TpCaucus the school board, the PTA, Have a group of say 100 (or so) stop by to chatt with the Principle(or whoever) daily..

Make a nuisance of themselves and invite local newspapers.. take You Tube video and publish it there... Generally make "doing this" a big pain in the ass to the school authority's.. AND.... de-fund the school system politically..

Course you might need a strong TpCaucus locally..
Have Tp meetings to make plans.. Elect local people say the police and fire department that are Tp comparable..

Basically "git mad" and take this crap NO MORE... organize and "git even" with "interest"....

[cld51860]

Absolutley. The way to fight this kind of propagandizing in our schools is to pull our kids out of public schools. It’s all tied to funding. Hopefully we can kill off the state indoctrination centers that way.

[anoldafvet]

You don’t want facts to get in the way of “enlightenemnt” do you?

[momtothree]

At my son’s high school, a kid was scolded and threatened to be sent to the office for handing out candy canes to his friends. CANDY CANES?!! The teacher said they were used to celebrate a religious holiday and banned. The irony of this story: the child handing them out is Jewish. He purchased them for his friends as a treat. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Just a thought.