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."
You don't have to worry about informing your kids. There will always be another kid (whose parents are like the author of this thread) that will spill the beans.
Just wait til they find out about "sex" from a third grader. That's always a day to look forward to! :)
This is kind of like somebody taking an 8 year old to a X rated movie and griping because there's sex involved.
FYI, you're hearing it straight from the mouth of someone whose wife works in management for that Bentonville, Ark.,-based company everybody loves to hate, who as a devout Christian would've told me this even if she'd had to grin and bear it at work. There were no instructions from corporate ... zip, zilch, nada, not one word ... that "Merry Christmas" had to be replaced with "Happy Holidays." It did not happen. What did happen was a couple of managers of individual stores in states where you would expect something like this to happen did it of their own volition. Because store managers have the leeway and freedom to do that. Every Wal-Mart store is not run exactly out of the same playbook, they are tailored to the areas they in. You'll find, if you travel to some different ones in different areas, they don't even carry the exact same stock. For instance, there's one located a little piece away from us, in an area where there is a rather large Hispanic population, where you can barely find an English language CD in the music section. That's not how it is in my wife's store.
Sorry to go off on that tangent, I've been looking for an opening to get this off my chest here.
As far as the main topic, I think what is bothering everyone here is this woman taking it upon herself to do this and say this when it wasn't her place to say it and wasn't her business to start with. Again, I say to this woman ... and again, I agree that this woman and the person who started this thread are probably one in the same ... open up your Bible, whatever translation you use (my personal preference is the NAS, Scofield edition), and turn to Proverbs 26:17.
I don't think you're going to get an answer to that one.
Am I out of line?
I've already had "the talk" ... not about Santa, but about the other "s" word ... with my 11-year-old (who says he believes in Santa but I think really doesn't, he just doesn't want to spoil it for little brother). I don't think it registered. :)
My sons did the same for their little sister. Your son sounds like a sweetie!
mugshot?
No, you most certainly are not; but if you look at that poster's posts, you'll see it has almost exclusively posted on these two threads about teachers and Santa Claus this week, adding "personal" information that isn't in the articles and hasn't explained how it knows anything about this teacher.
You were smart to catch it.
LOL..........isn't that Squeaky?
LOL! If not, it's a clone.
Translation: I've taught my kid to be obnoxious and to butt their little noses in where they don't belong.
I couldn't really give a rat's rear end about your Santa Clause phantasm or the little elves and fairies, but when my children ask me about Christmas or religion I hand them an old, magnificently gilded Bible from the mid-1800s and let them decide for themselves, because I ultimately cannot choose for them or anyone else.
So when you children, let's say two to six years old, (the age this entire post is about) asked you about Christmas, you hand them your gilded Bible and let them decide for themselves....
I was suspicious you weren't dealing with a full deck, now I'm positive.
You were smart to catch it
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Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
You perpetually angry woman, you always have to get in the last ugly words ....... so pretend you didn't read this.
;-)
I can't believe this nonsense is still going on.
I haven't been to church in a long-long time, but I don't think it was Santa who died for our sins. How is "The Night Before Christmas" in any way religious, other than it takes place on Christmas eve?
This chick should just STFU. Let someone who isn't a soul-sucking joyless wonder turd read the poem to the kids. The kids would probably enjoy it more.
****
Cute kitties on your page, btw. I have three of a quite similar color ........ all females.
It's not the posting first that creates a problem, dense one!
The problem is that you repeatedly turn a little tiny complaint os disagreement into an ugly conflict. It is so unnecessary, but you do it all the time. I see you fighting with at least a half dozen FReepers every single week, it's just your strange overly-combative nature. It's the part of your personality that makes you great with facts most of the time, and it is also why you are not liked by many dozens of posters. You have the pained personality of a truckdriver on a cross country trip sitting on a few porcupine quills.
Me thinks........
Stop thinking, I can smell the would burning from here.
Happy New Year, Mapes. Now goodbye.......... this thread is not about this.
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