Gone are the days of McGuffy’s famous reader, from which whole generations of Americans learned in first grade that “A” is for Adam, and “B” is for Bethlehem, and so forth until the Bible story was assimilated along with the letters of the alphabet. It was a perfect example of the inter-disciplinary instruction so highly touted in modern academia, but we shelved it anyway.
Today all hints of Christianity and its biblical roots are being systematically expunged in our public schools. Not always by atheists or anti-religionists as you might expect. Instead the expungers often turn out to be well-meaning Christian people who have bought into the current PC craze or have been forced to comply with it.
Take the Christmas program presented recently at one of our local schools, for example.
Umpteen giggling, jostling, precious kindergarten kids trooped onto the stage that morning, half of them wearing vests displaying letters A to Z. The other half wore disguises to match what the letters stood for.
Proudly, the kids matched them up. “A” was for angel (which turned out to be the only quasi-Christian reference of the day), and on down the alphabet we went.
In a thoroughly sanitized Christmas presentation, “C” did not stand for Christ. My Jewish rabbi friend who stridently objected to the popular linking of Christmas and Hanukkah would have been offended, because “C” in this program script stood for the candles lit in that Jewish festival. And “J” suggested not Jesus, but jingle bells.
So the carefully-not-Christian Christmas program unfolded. “M” could have stood for Mary or the manger, but today it pointed to mistletoe. “R” used to stand for our Redeemer, but now he’s been replaced by a reindeer with serious nose problems.
The happy boys and girls who presented the program that day captured my heart. Who could have kept from adoring them? And I was impressed by the capable teachers. Orchestrating the antics of so many four and five-year-olds took tons of talent. And energy. And love.
But I left school that day feeling sad. And a bit angry.
Why do we Christians stand quietly by while one of our major holidays is gutted of its real meaning and recycled as a thoroughly secular, non-religious affair? It’s a travesty. An insult to all Christians. And I think those of us who believe in Christ need to stand up and say so.