In the classic 1965 Peanuts Christmas Special, Charlie Brown is tired of Christmas being too commercial, so he decides to put on a Christmas pageant. During the special, the character Linus recites a passage from the Bible.
That Bible quote has sparked a debate over religious liberty at a middle school in Texas. A middle school nurse’s aide, Dedra Shannon, put a quote from the Bible on her door with a picture of the Linus character.
The aide put the quote on the door of the nurse’s office. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said that making her take it down is “an attack on religious liberty.”
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Shannon has gotten representation from a law firm that says they represent “biblical, Judeo-Christian values.”
The Supreme Court has:
“… Held repeatedly that neither ‘students nor teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.’”
A lawsuit over a poster is a waste of time and resources.
Texas does have a “Merry Christmas” law that gives teachers and students the right to celebrate winter holidays at school.
As long as the school doesn’t censor students who celebrate other holidays, then the poster isn’t harming anyone. There was no way to include other religions on this particular poster.
The nurse’s aide should’ve chosen a more secular holiday display to be more inclusive of students of other faiths. The “Merry Christmas” law says schools should use secular celebrations and displays.
However, that time and money wasted over this battle could have gone toward helping the school system. It could have been used for new textbooks or other supplies. It could have been used to pay our teachers a better wage.
The school board voted on it and said that the poster should be taken down.
Shannon’s attorney, Jonathan Saenz, said:
“Just about everyone that you hear from cannot believe we’ve reached a place in America. … And in Texas, that a Charlie Brown Christmas poster is being torn down in our public schools.”
Here is some information about the “Merry Christmas” law:
Featured image via Twitter.
