Public School Poll - Is this acceptable?

It depends on how the story is written. If it is presented as the Christian tradition of Christmas, then it is permissible. If it tries to endorse it as being the truth, then that would probably be inappropriate. Telling the Christian history of Christmas through an historical approach is good, IMO, but it must be done carefully.

I voted I don't know because I'd have to read the article.

 

If they want to "have something of interest to each reader", then they should keep in mind that not every reader will be Christian (unless it is printed by the Christian Club for its members, in which case it would be fine). If this is one of many POVs then it is acceptable, but if this is the only view, that everyone is Christian and enjoys Christmas festivities, then they are probably excluding many students.

 

I hope they exclude communists. I think that communists should be excluded to Cuba.

 

You want to exile US high school students to Cuba because of their political views?

 

It depends on how the story was written, but, if there was no religious endorsement (which it doesn't look like there was), then I see no problem with it.

I'm curious as to the source.

 

My how times change.Without Christ there is no Christmas.Christmas is a celebration of the birthday of Christ our Lord.

On separation of church and state issues that came up when our founders realized we did not want to have a national church.That did not and does not preclude Christians practicing Christianity nor does it preclude Christians from being active in politics or public events and discussions.The separation of church and state was in the USSR constitution not the U.S. constitution.The separation Thomas Jefferson was speaking of was speaking to the government not interfreing with the practice of religion.

 

That's not at issue. THe issue was whether the aforementioned texts was apropriate in a public school. The concensus seems to be that it is.

That was not the sole reason for Amendment I. That topic has been discussed elsewhere, and is not part of this thread. Let us kindly not hijack this thread for that topic. Feel free to visit the other topics that have been discussing this.

 

Perfectly acceptable. There is no attempt by Congress to establish a national church or religion in there. Simply the proper exercise of someones written viewpoint.

 

A factual presentation of why we celebrate Christmas should not be a problem. There is after all a reason why it is called CHRISTmas.

 

I apologize to you Johnv for trying to put things in proper historical perspective.I also understand the first amendement addressed more than one issue.Is it alright with you if I point out that my Income tax dollars and property tax dollars support public schools and I am a Christian who is not offended by the letter.

 

My cynical view (or is it realistic? You make the call):

Whether it's acceptable or not depends on how much publicity and money the ACLU can make if/when they come down on the school with a lawsuit.

 

Let's rephrase this question.

If we were holding a discussion of some other religous holiday - would you demand that the people discussing it remove reference to the real reason for the holiday in the eyes of those who hold it most dear? Would you ask a Muslim not to speak of Allah when he wrote about Ramadan? Would you ask a Jewish individual not to mention God when discussing Chanukah?

Christmas is meant to be a celebration of the life of Christ Jesus. Christians have a right to express their beliefs about Christmas in articles discussing Christmas.

The think "separation of Church and State" people seem to forget most often is this: Christians have a right to free speech too.

 

Government schools are controlled by the State.

 

A couple of things. First, Christmas is not exclusively a religious holiday. Need proof? Just wait until December and see how many people post here complaining that Christmas is "so secular" these days.

I find it amusing, though that the same people who complain that Christmas isn't Christmas because of the secular content are often the same ones who jump up and down about Halloween, despite the fact that Halloween as celebrated here is a secular event.

I wouldn't have a problem with such a newsletter mentioning the Christ child at Christmas, and don't have a problem with those you mentioned as well.

No disagreement there.

 

Since you did not include the other information, I do not know if they tried to force Christianity on students or not.