Please approach this as a (group, I hope) meditation on "American" values. A screed on religious rituals, rites or rights it is not, although we might make it one.
In Mustang, Oklahoma, some voters prefer their children stupid. According to AP, Mustang parents, angry with a school superintendent who removed a Nativity scene from an elementary school play...
...took out their anger at the ballot box, helping to defeat bond measures worth nearly $11 million.
Oklahoma ranks 43rd nationally in K-12 per pupil spending, according to Oklahoma.
The whole Mustang School District is 12,000 students in five elementary schools, two middle schools, a mid-high, an education center and Mustang High, so $11 million is serious money.
I think the school superintendent was an idiot. I also think Christianity is commercial and warlike, American Christianity particularly so, and I'm sympathetic with the superintendent's reasoning.
But...
Apparently, the superintendent agonized over it himself.
Concerned over the issue of separation of church and state, [Superintendent Karl] Springer had sought advice from the school board attorney, who recommended that the Nativity scene be removed. The children still got to sing "Silent Night," but Springer took out the manger scene.
"Probably in my life I've never had to make a decision as difficult as this," said Springer, who added that he thinks his choice hurt support for the bond measures.
In North Korea -- a place I've been researching lately -- the government is officially anti-religious. Recognizing the importance of cultural heritage, however, the same government advocates the preservation and maintenance of religious facilities and even rites, especially older, more broadly-known ones.
If further allegations in the article are true, the superintendent's action seems preposterous and indefensible.
Some parents were angry that Santa Claus, a Christmas tree and symbols of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa were left in the production.
"If you're going to cut one symbol, then cut them all," said Shelly Marino, the parent of a third-grader at the elementary school. "Santa Claus was in the play and a Christmas tree was displayed, but that's not a Christian symbol."
Let's assume for the sake of argument that such allegations result from zealous "interpretation."
Now, some propositions to consider.
First, a Nativity scene in an elementary school play affords a perfect opportunity for responsible parents to teach their children about politics and the propaganda of myths and symbols, to teach skepticism, and that's something every responsible parent is obliged to do. Aunts and uncles too. Learning what Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and Baby Jesus really mean is an important process no better taught than by deconstructing public symbols like Nativity scenes in elementary school plays. That's what they are for, IMO.
Second, the value of religious symbols in general is the opportunity they afford us all the to compare and contrast observed behavior with professions of belief. This is especially important in this New Age Crusade against Islam(ic terrorists), IMO.
When Christianity subsumed the remnants of the Roman Empire, it pragmatically incorporated rituals, rites and lore of its component cultures. Santa Claus, the Christmas Tree, and chestnuts roasting on an open fire all came from other belief structures. No self-respecting parent -- or uncle -- could abide an offspring approaching adolescence without exploring those origins, IMO.
Third, it would seem reasonable to expect an American culture intent on subsuming (and in the Middle East, consuming) other cultures to adopt a similar perspective. An enlightened, sensitive schools superintendent (such as Karl Springer of Mustang, Oklahoma appears to be) should know this, despite what his attorneys might have to say about it.
And last but not least, before we crucify Oklahoma for its irresponsible redstatedness, a ditty I've never read before called the American's Creed, which is printed on Page 7 of the Mustang High School student handbook, (careful, it's a .pdf file) above the Pledge of Allegiance:
I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people and for the people, whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic; a sovereign nation of many sovereign states; a perfect union, one and inseparable, established on those principles of freedom, equality, justice and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.