Grandma's House

The schools in Maplewood, New Jersey won't be having any Christmas music this year. Oh, they'll have holiday music, but if there's a reference to any religion or religious event, such as the birth of Christ, it won't be included in the repertoire. A few parents have complained that those songs are exclusive and intolerant. Many more complained at the latest board meeting that this is Bah, Humbug!

But one parent is singing a different tune, arguing that songs like "Come all Ye Faithful" and "Silent Night" silence diversity. "I support the ban on religious music in the schools because I feel that it makes children, who do not celebrate a particular holiday or have a particular religion, it makes them uncomfortable, as if they have to choose between being in a chorus or band and their religions," said parent Shelley Slafkes.

This is total malarkey. Those songs don't make the children uncomfortable, any more than race makes children uncomfortable. It's the parents who are uncomfortable, and they're using the children as an excuse. They should be ashamed. This dispute isn't going to be settled or even discussed by the school board until January, because they don't have any balls either.