Here is more of the
same old story as religion tries (and fails) to peacefully co-exist with the public schools:
A manger scene drawing by fourth-grader Matthew Bartlett was recently excluded from a holiday picture display to be viewed by parents attending Wednesday night's Christmas program at Flemington Elementary School. Although school officials laminated the picture, they told Matthew it could not be used in the display because it might offend someone.
In this country, broadcasting the F-word on television is now allowed without limitation (except as a reference to sex), yet a harmless art project by a 4th grade student is unsuitable for display because some might find it offensive. The people who have decided this are also in charge of educating our children.
Fortunately, the boy's mother had the sense to challenge the reasoning (or lack thereof) behind this decision:
Enter Matthew's mother, Vicky. "I wrote a letter to his teacher and principal, asking them to please reconsider displaying this picture during the Christmas program [and explaining] that Christmas means a lot of things to a lot of people, and Matthew has been taught that Christmas is the birth of Jesus," she says. "That's why we celebrate it."
In her letter, Mrs. Bartlett pointed out that Christ is just as important to Matthew as Santa is to many of his classmates. She also encouraged school officials to consult their own policies on the matter, just as she had done.
"[U]nder 'Philosophy' on page one of their handbook, it said that [the school deals] with each child individually to bring out their qualities and their values and their cultural background," she says. "So I put that in the letter -- and I asked them to do the same with Matthew concerning this."
The administration saw the light when it was pointed out that their politically correct decision violated the spirit and letter of the student goals which they themselves had set:
After receiving Vicky's letter, school officials had a change of heart and decided to include Matthew's picture. Needless to say, Matthew was quite pleased.
The school apparently still has some concerns about offending people. Students at Matthew's school celebrate on Wednesday by taking part in what the school terms a "Holiday" party and a "Winter" program.
Who knows what sensible item will be banned next, all in the name of creating a vanilla atmosphere which is free of offensive content. Matthew Bartlett may not be completely out of danger. After all, he shares the name of one of Jesus' disciples as well as one book of the Bible. Might Biblical names be banned at some point in the future?
In the book of Matthew (18:7 to be exact), we read the words of Christ which apply very readily to this situation: "For offenses must come..." It really seems that equipping people to properly deal with offenses would be a better solution than attempting the hopeless task of achieving the Nirvana of an offense free environment.
