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University Daily Kansan
Should Carols be Sung at School And the Christmas Story Told?
SACRAMENTO. Calif. — (UPI) — Christmas is a jolly time, except perhaps for the public school teacher who must decide if and how to celebrate it in the classroom.
For despite the Supreme Court's decision last June, there are still no easy guidelines for the teacher or administrator to follow.
FOR INSTANCE: should there be a nativity scene in the school? Should the children sing Christmas carols? Should they hear the story of Christmas as it is told in the Eible?
California Deputy Attorney General Richard Mayers, a specialist in church-state law, made this observation:
"The (Supreme) court said that the government is neutral when dealing with religion." But, he said, this is not an easy doctrine to apply when assessing a particular Christmas celebration in a particular school.
"YOU HAVE TO ask whether it is given, or intended, as a religious ceremony," he said.
That is not an easy question when many persons argue that Christmas observances are not necessarily religious but a part of folklore.
Dr. Max Rafferty, superintendent of public instruction, is inclined toward that point of view.
"It should be," he added, "a culturally directed program rather than one devoted to any kind of sectarian religious indoctrination."
RAFFERTY SAID that Christmas carols, along with Santa Claus and Christmas trees "have passed into the folklore tradition of the whole race."
Readings from the Bible, he continued, should be considered as an "historical statement of a great time."
Harry A. Fosdick, an official of the California Teachers Association (CTA), took a different view of scripture readings. In a recent article for the CTA newspaper "Action." Fosdick said he opposed programs "which demand religious commitments of a captive audience or feature the dogma of the Christmas story."
"THIS," HE continued, "would rule out reading the Christian scriptural passages of the nativity, which I have seen done solemnly and eloquently in many public schools."
About Christmas carols, Fosdick said there were "many gray areas." He noted that "We Three Kings of Orient Are," for instance, "recognizes the dogma of nativity, yet is cultural as a foundation for our gift-giving tradition."
Earlier this month, the Los Angeles city school district issued its annual set of "guidelines" for principals and administrators who may be concerned with Christmas programs. In general, the district left final decisions to local principals "who best know how to judge community needs."
The district also asked for precautions "to insure that the individual pupil is not embarrassed and there is no violation of his individual conscience and of the law."
HOWEVER, THE guidelines said that "highly sectarian scenes and tableaus should be avoided." On music, they said, "much of our finest music is of a religious nature and as music may be appropriately used in connection with school programs."
CALIFORNIA LAW on religion in the schools was summarized in 1955 when then Attorney General (now
Tattoos Boost Spirit
ROMFORD, England — (UPI) — Tattoo artist Victor Shipton, 41, said today teenagers are lining up outside his shop to get special Christmas tattoos.
"There is a rush for religious subjects just now," Shipton said. "The crucifixion is the most popular."
One of his customers, Brian Hargreaves, 16, said he got his Christmas tattoo "to help me think about religion more often."
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governor) Edmund G. B.rown issued an opinion saying that prayers and Bible readings could not be made a part of the public school curriculum. But he said the Bible might be used for "reference, literary, historical or other non-religious purposes."
Airman Guards Tree
"The Religious guarantees in our constitution," he continued, "stem not from opposition to religion but from respect for it—and for the right of each person to determine for himself his fundamental faith."
8th and MASSACHUSETTS STREETS
COLUSA, Calif. — (UPI) — Michael Hoffman, 19, on leave from the Air Force, stood two hours of guard duty Saturday night—at Colusa's community Christmas tree.
Last year Hoffman sped by the tree in a car, plucked off two large lights, and then ran a signal light. Judge Richard Patton made this year's guard duty at the tree a condition of the young airman's probation.
In honor of the twentieth anniversary of the death of William Allen White, the "Midcontinent American Studies Journal" is featuring an article "The Crisis in the White Committee."
Journal Honors William Allen White
The article, by Richard L. McBane,
a staff member of the Marietta
(Ohiо) Daily Times, was developed from his research on the William Allen White Collection in the Library of Congress.
THE WHITE Committee, of which White was chairman, was officially called the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies. It was formed in 1939 when it became apparent that by itself England needed help to prevent a complete Nazi conquest. The purpose was to press for American action to bolster the Allied cause.
The committee worked in the face of opposition from various extremist groups and suffered internal dissension according to the article.
The Journal is published under the joint sponsorship of the Midcontinent American Studies Association and the University of Kansas and is edited by Stuart Levine, assistant professor of English. Edward F. Grier, professor of English is chairman of the Editorial Board.
THE SQUABBLE in the committee eventually led to White's resignation but some feel that it was successful in getting popular support for the Lend-Lease bill of 1941.
The Midcontinent American Studies Association is offering the issue containing the article on William Allen White at the Kansas Union Book Store for $1.
Involved in the committee dispute were such men as Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia of New York, Roy Roberts of the Kansas City Star, Bruce Barton, Philip Wylie, and Oswald Garrison Villard.
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