The Case of the Confiscated Christmas Cards

After the Thanksgiving break at Brooklet Elementary School, the returning boys and girls discovered that their teachers’ Christmas cards had been removed from their posting in the hallways outside their classrooms.  This long-standing tradition was ordered by the Georgia school’s administration.

 

Robb Kicklighter’s wife is a third grade teacher at the school.  He said many teachers are disgruntled by the administration’s decision to confiscate the Christmas cards.  “They took down the cards so the kids can’t see them,” he told Todd Starnes of townhall.com.  “Some of the cards had the word ‘Christmas’ and some had nativity scenes.” Kicklighter said the cards were put behind an office door so only teachers could access them.  “It’s really sad because the students looked forward to seeing those homemade Christmas cards every year,” he said.  “It’s stirred a lot conversation.  This has been a tradition and the kids are wondering what happened to the cards.”

 

The Christmas card censorship comes as the Bulloch County Board of Education cracks down on religious expression in their schools. Teachers have been ordered to remove any religious icons or items from their classrooms … ranging from Bibles to Christian music.  Teachers have also been instructed to avoid student-led prayers … by turning their backs on the students who are praying.

 

“It’s an attack on Christianity,” Kicklighter said.  “It seems like every time we turn around, someone is offended.”

 

Hundreds of outraged residents have joined a Facebook page to protest the crackdown – and many are vowing to attend a school board meeting to let school officials have a piece of their mind.

 

The Board of Education released a statement noting that there are “established legal requirements to which we must adhere.”

 

I don’t know what these ‘so-called’ “legal requirements” may be, but this I do know – It is a violation of the U.S. Constitution.  The government is prohibited from impeding the “free exercise of religion.”  This constitutional ‘right’ has been misinterpreted (yet again) as ‘freedom from religion.’  The Bulloch County Board of Education is on the wrong side of this cultural war … and I believe they will learn (real soon) to surrender to the will of the constituents who put them in office.  This “legal requirement” will be another casualty of the ‘War on Christmas.’   

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel