Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Arkansas Freethinkers Think They're Con Law Experts

Naw, there's no war on Christmas.

The school district of Little Rock, Arkansas thought it would be nice to bus their kids to a church to see a Christmas play based on "A Charlie Brown Christmas".

However, ONE mother was so shocked and horrified by this that she was compelled to complain to the school district, and then contact the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers (the title of 'freethinker' always gets a chuckle out of me), who wrote a nasty little letter to the school district which suggested there could be legal action.

Attendance of the play was optional. The Mom was going to let her attend out of "fear" of harassment of her daughter by the kids who got to go (how dramatic).

The school's knee-jerk reaction was to cancel the trip, and the church considered canceling the matinee performance.

Some parents contacted the Liberty Counsel, which specializes in defending 1st Amendment rights. They informed the school that attendance at this play does not violate the 1st Amendment due to the historical significance of Christianity's influence on the holidays.

The school made a compromise deal which allows kids to attend the show without making it an official school function, but understands now that there is a legal right to discuss Christianity in a public classroom without proselytizing.

Leewood Thomas, the spokesman for ASF commented:


"Everybody's labeling us angry atheists, and we're not. We're not angry...Charlie Brown in and of itself is not a bad thing, but it does promote the Christian worldview, and that's not something you need to single out in the public sphere or in public classrooms," said Thomas.

We're not calling you "angry", Mr. Thomas. We're calling you intolerant.

The play doesn't mention Christianity until the very end, when Charlie Brown asks what Christmas is all about, and Linus quotes the Book of Luke. Luke described the history behind the holiday.

That's it.

Would the ASF had gotten involved if the play was "A Charlie Brown Kwanzaa?"

I doubt it.

1 comment:

Thesauros said...

Of course the atheist protest is preposterous. Every movie or play that kids in our elementary school see does not go on without a note going home first so the parents have a chance to sign a consent form. This is done so the Christian parents have a chance to keep their kids out.

If they don't do the same thing there, they should start. Both the school and the Church caved too soon.

Any how, thanks for the post.
Keep the faith.
Merry Christmas
Happy Holy Days
See you There!