Good Grief!: Elementary School Reluctantly Cancels Field Trip To See ‘Merry Christmas Charlie Brown’

[Adsos Letter]

Source:
Wall of Separation
Dec 10, 2012
by Simon Brown
LINK: https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/good-grief-elementary-school-reluctantly-cancels-field-trip-to-see-merry

Like Lucy pulling away her football just before Charlie Brown can kick it, an Arkansas church has canceled a production of “Merry Christmas Charlie Brown” that was to be shown to public elementary school students this week.

But unlike Lucy’s mean-spirited prank, the church did the right thing – even though it did so grudgingly.

First and second graders at Terry Elementary School in Little Rock were invited by a local house of worship, Agape Church, to see a stage adaptation of the 1965 cartoon, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” on Dec. 14, said KATV, the ABC affiliate in Little Rock.

The play includes a retelling of the Nativity Story by Linus, KATV said, and that had at least one parent upset. So that parent complained to the Arkansas Society of Free Thinkers (ASFT), who informed the school that it was walking into a potential church-state problem.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Why couldn't the church just offer the production without involving the school like

opening it up to the public? The fact that it involved the public school makes the purpose suspect.

[cbayer]

3. It is open to the public. They had scheduled a single weekday performance specifically

for school trips, but canceled it due to the complaints.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. The kids aren't being deprived of a performance.

It was time taken out of their public school curriculum. They can go to afterschool performances.

[cbayer]

8. And that is exactly what everyone concluded.

I wonder if it would have been OK if they had included a number of different experiences, including a pagan seasonal celebration.

[trotsky]

13. Let's ask the ACLU.

http://www.aclu.org/religion-belief

The goal of the ACLU’s work on freedom of religion and belief is to guarantee that all are free to follow and practice their faith – or no faith at all – without governmental influence or interference. Through litigation, public education, and advocacy, the ACLU promotes religious freedom and works to ensure that government neither prefers religion over non-religion nor favors particular faiths over others. At the same time, we act to protect the equally important and related constitutional right to exercise and express religious beliefs and individual conscience.

[immoderate]

2. Religion is bullshit, but this was just a play...

A little room here.

--imm

[murielm99]

4. Why not let that parent keep their child home,

and let everyone else go at their family's discretion? Why ruin it for everyone?

Kids are going to be exposed to the nativity story all over the place during the Christmas season. Their parents can tell them what their own family believes, whether they are religious or not.

[CBGLuthier]

7. and we can call it "jew stay home day."

be a good lesson for the young lad about being of the minority religion.

Something like that, eh?

[murielm99]

15. There are all sorts of non-religious

and non-Christian people. You have no right to make such an insulting comment.

[CBGLuthier]

18. No Right. Why do I have no right to point out how exclusive you think it should be.

How else to say what you said. oh sure they may not be jewish. But that is the exact essence of your sentiment.


Next time you say the "outsider" should stay home maybe you will think about exactly what you are saying.

Probably not.

[murielm99]

20. Oh. The dominant culture is

Christian. Children are going to be exposed to it one way or another, especially since Christmas is the biggest holiday of the year for Christians. Many people celebrate Christmas in a completely secular way. It is up to them. In many ways, a little Charlie Brown play shows the spirit of the season. Everyone can be included in the Christmas spirit.

We have ultra-Christian people here who do not allow their children to participate in all the public school programs. That is up to them. We have Jehovah's Witnesses who take their kids home early when there is any type of holiday party. There are some Muslim families here, mostly Albanian, who do allow their children to participate in the gift exchanges and parties at school. We have some Jewish families and some Hindu families. My daughter learned a great deal from one of the Jewish boys who was her friend, and invited his whole class to his bar mitzvah. The families take part or do not take part at their at their own discretion.

You would have to be stupid not to notice that many other cultures have religious celebrations and festivals this time of year. It is reasonable to include them in any school or community activities. But then you don't sound very reasonable to me.

You are spoiling for a fight and you are simply a nasty person. You are attributing motives and sentiments to me that are simply not true. You pick apart what I say to find anything to use for a nasty comeback. You are not worth talking to any more.

[cbayer]

9. It was optional, but the parents who complained felt their child would be

ostracized if they did not give permission to go.

I never saw this as a particularly religious piece, but a broader one that spoke to the positive messages that can be conveyed by christmas.

[murielm99]

16. I agree.

I think that was probably why the school chose this particular play to see.

Quite a few DU members are making this into a major church vs. state incident. That is ridiculous. Sometimes this place makes my head hurt.

[Fumesucker]

17. Ever dealt with your child being bullied at school?

In my case it was a grandchild but trying to get it to end was a nightmare and anything and everything ended up as subject matter for bullying.

Having the rest of the class go to an event my grandchild was kept away from would have been absolutely primo bullying material.

[murielm99]

21. Yes I have dealt with that.

If you think your grandchlld should avoid bullying by being like everyone else, so be it.

The people in this thread are getting very strange. This whole subject has been pushed beyond anything sensible.

[Fumesucker]

22. Why introduce unnecessary opportunities for bullying behavior?

This wasn't anything remotely resembling a necessary field trip and the whole religion thing in some parts of the country is used remarkably often as a pretext for bullying behavior.

[dlwickham]

6. I can't understand why they were going to take kids out of school for the play

it's not like it's a huge cultural event or something

[jeepnstein]

10. You'd be shocked...

at the number of kids who don't know the first thing at all about theater etiquette. I'm all in favor of teaching them how to enjoy seeing a show.

As far as Linus' famous speech about the Nativity. Well, you just can't please everyone. It's part of the show. Looks like the "Society of Free Thinkers" or whatever it's called wasn't so much into free thinking.

[no_hypocrisy]

12. The focus wasn't on the Nativity Scene as much as taxpayer public school time

was being used to take kids out of the classroom, denying them academic curricula, and sending them physically to a church to see a semi-theistic juvenile theater production under the guise of entertainment. (Not that I would have been entirely happy if the production was held within the public school but it wouldn't be the same thing as what was presented in this case.)

[msongs]

11. church recruits public school kids at taxpayer expense - typical religionists nt

[cleanhippie]

14. Good. That was the right call.

[Marrah_G]

19. Why couldn't the play be put on at the school?