Yes, the competition for the ACLU's silliest Santa suit seemed particularly fierce this year. In one New Jersey school district, the annual trip to see Dickens' ''A Christmas Carol'' was canceled after threats of legal action. At another New Jersey school, the policy on not singing any songs mentioning God, Christ, angels, etc., was expanded to prohibit instrumental performances of music that would mention God if any singers were around to sing the words. So you can't do ''Silent Night'' as a piano solo or Handel's Messiah even if you junk the hallelujahs.
This is nothing to do with Christianity. ''A Christmas Carol'' is a secular work -- there's no more God or Jesus in it than there is in ''White Christmas.'' And, if works of music that reference God are banned from schools, that cuts out a big chunk of the aural glories of this world, including the best of Bach and Mozart. Forbidding children from being exposed to Handel and Dickens is an act of vandalism and, in the end, will eliminate any rationale for a public education system.
But let's not obsess on New Jersey's litigious secularists. In Plano, Texas, in the heart of God-fearin' Bush country, parents were instructed not to bring red and green plates and napkins for the school's ''winter'' parties, as red and green are colors with strong Christmas connotations and thus culturally oppressive.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph long ago got the heave-ho from the schoolhouse, but the great secular trinity of Santa, Rudolph and Frosty aren't faring much better. ''Frosty The Snowman'' and ''Jingle Bells'' are offensive to those of a non-Frosty or non-jingly persuasion: They're code for traditional notions of Christmas. The basic rule of thumb is: Anything you enjoy singing will probably get you sued.
Delicious. Read the rest, it's as good or better. As much as he deserves it, Steyn needs to return from vacation ASAP, if only for my entertainment.
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