Last year, a school administrator stopped Jonathan Morgan at the door to his classroom because the "goody bag" he had brought to a school party on the last day before Christmas vacation contained candy canes with a religious message attached. Titled "The Legend of the Candy Cane," it said the candy was shaped in a J for Jesus and bore a red stripe "to represent the blood Christ shed for the sins of the world." ...
Doug Morgan said his son was a victim of "political correctness spiraling out of control." He noted that the school had informed parents that only white paper plates and napkins -- no Christmas red and green -- would be allowed at the generic "Winter Break" party.
To follow-up on my Christmas entry, I read the above in an interesting Washington Post article on the efforts (including lawsuits) to put "Christ" back in "Christmas." Arguably, the true problem is Santa Claus, whose religious origins are mostly forgotten in lieu of the reindeer stuff. I wonder if worrying about little Johnnie getting candy with messages about "the blood Christ shed" is part of the trivial secularization of the holiday the conservative spin machine is worrying about.
The article discusses the recent trend of arguing that religious speech just get equal time, which seems to me a sort of cheapening of religion: Christ / Dean, just two viewpoints to defend. Also, there is all that stuff in the Bible about Jesus saying we shouldn't be showy and feel a need to publicize our faith, so prayer in private is the way to go. Or, the "render to Caesar ..." stuff. Now, we have what sounds like cynical political use of the Christmas holiday. Surely not!
Still, some go too far in the other direction, and the random school child gets in trouble with writing an essay about Jesus or something. So, balance is good, but it should be noted that public sponsorship of religion or even mixing church and state bears special care. Thus, a teacher surely shouldn't hand out those candy canes with Mel Gibson approved doctrine.
Oh, and to show my sense of balance, I do not think freestanding trees generally are religious symbols. We shouldn't allow some religious symbols (menorahs) and not others (creches), so nix both or neither, but Thanksgiving has some religious content too. A turkey isn't a religious symbol, however. But, Happy Holidays is fine ... it's inclusive of all religious faiths. Good thing ... not Christian bashing.
Anyway, great game last night. The Pats played a bit lazy, especially a truly stupid toss while the QB was on his butt that led to the winning score with less than two minutes left. Take the sack. Sheesh. A non-call seemed to be Miami's downfall, one of those calls the announcers say is a bad call. The calls that drive me nuts. But, the football gods were on their side: they scored on 4th and 10. And, the Pats have to work for a bye, and will probably not have home field throughout.