You may have heard about the Kentucky school district that ordered its administrators to scrub any religious references from its various Christmas productions. Most infamously, an elementary school in the Johnson County School District removed the lines from \u201cA Charlie Brown Christmas\u201d\u009d where Linus recites the Gospel of Luke\u2019s account of the Nativity of Jesus Christ. This censorship was colossally silly\u201d\u201dboth because Linus\u2019 speech is the dramatic center of the play, and because of the self-evident absurdity of staging a play with \u201cChristmas\u201d\u009d in its title and then deleting the key lines that explain what Christmas celebrates.<\/p>\n
According to reports, the district\u2019s attorneys had received a complaint about the planned production and, apparently fearing a lawsuit, they advised administrators to remove all \u201creligious\u201d\u009d (i.e., Christian) references from the Christmas-related productions being planned in their schools. According to the district\u2019s website, \u201cThe U.S. Supreme Court and the 6th Circuit are very clear that public school staff may not endorse any religion when acting in their official capacities and during school activities.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Hello! Staging a play about Christmas doesn\u2019t \u201cendorse\u201d\u009d the Christian religion, any more than staging \u201cBig River\u201d\u009d (the musical version of the Huckleberry Finn story) constitutes an endorsement of slavery or a production of \u201cSweeney Todd\u201d\u009d endorses cannibalism.<\/p>\n