COURANT OWES BRAD DAVIS AN APOLOGY
January 19th, 2006 by Brian
The Courant’s lead editorial on Christmas Day chastised Bill O’Reilly and local radio host Brad Davis for defending Christmas against–in the paper’s estimation–an illusory war against the holiday. Given recent events in East Windsor, the editors owe O’Reilly and Davis an apology:
EAST WINDSOR — Santa will be back in the schools next year.
After they noticed that Christmas decorations were being removed from the schools, a couple of parents approached the schools superintendent, suggesting that his interpretation of a letter sent by the Anti-Defamation League was wrong.
The superintendent now admits the district went too far and said Santa will make an appearance again next year…
In East Windsor, a Christmas tree that had been put up in one of the schools was ordered taken down and [East Windsor parent Anita] LaMonde said the town’s park and recreation department was not allowed to advertise its annual Santa Call program. The parks department also was told that an Easter egg hunt couldn’t be held at Broad Brook Elementary School because of the concern about religion in public schools, she said.
For years, Christmas decorations had been displayed in classrooms and around the schools. But in recent years, symbols from other religions had been displayed during the holiday season, LaMonde said.
[East Windsor parent Kathy] Bilodeau said although schools have been trying to accommodate the feelings of people offended by displays of religion in public schools, she felt the pendulum had moved too far the other way.
After consulting the conservative American Center for Law and Justice, LaMonde said, they found that federal court precedents do allow such things as singing Christmas carols with religious themes and displaying religious symbols during Christmas. They also learned that teachers can discuss the origins of the symbols in a historical context.
Last month, FIC’s Stop the Ban on Christmas campaign convinced three major retailers that operate in Connecticut to restore Christmas in their stores. Our members sent more e-mails in a similar time-span than any previous FIC campaign: over 3,000 in three days. FIC congratulates our members, the parents in East Windsor and Brad Davis for their victories against the War on Christmas in Connecticut.
And we offer some advice for the Courant: before you write next December’s inevitable “There is no war on Christmas” editorial, why don’t you check out the evidence first?
