Like most organizations, the Ridgeland School Distrtict 122 in Oak Lawn, Illinois has a nice motto:
"Education for Today…
With a Vision for the Future."
Sounds harmless to most American ears. While it would be easy to criticize the quality of education in these government schools, I am more interested in knowing about their vision for the future. Especially because 30 percent of this district consists of an Arab population, most of whom are devout Muslims.
It was inevitable that this growing segment of the district’s population would eventually flex its political and religious muscle. And that’s exactly what happened. A muslim parent requested that one of her children be separated from other school children during lunch for the Ramadan fast. Reacting with a hasty decision, the school board voted to cancel all school holidays, including Christmas and Halloween.
Quite predictably, this decision created a political nightmare for the Ridgeland School District. Police were even called in to settle shouting matches between school administrators and parents. One parent, Brenda Elvidge, stated, “It’s not fair to our kids. This is America and that’s an American tradition.” Another parent, Cathy Hughes, said, "I don’t ever remember one of us asking for our child to be separated from classmates during Ash Wednesday when they were fasting, or on every Friday of Lent when our children are not allowed to eat meat."[1]
It came as no surprise that the decision to ban holidays was quickly reversed. "Everything is staying the same," school board member Dave Lis said. "Christmas is still Christmas, and Halloween is still Halloween." To smooth things over with the muslim parent, the school board simply tacked on Ramadan as another official school holiday.[2]
Fifth-grader Samantha Ramirez was relieved. "We should be able to celebrate our thing, and they should be able to celebrate theirs, too," she said. [3]
While many Christians may see this as a victory, I don’t. Just because kids can see Santa Claus and dress up in costumes doesn’t mean that they are, or ever will be, taught God’s Law or be given a Biblical worldview in government schools. They are still taught Darwinian evolution and are spoon fed with revisionist history that blames Christians for the world’s problems. Do we really want to prolong this?
Furthermore, I believe that the sooner government schools become thoroughly atheistic, the sooner they will just shrivel up and die. Maybe we SHOULD cancel the emasculated version of Christmas that the public schools tolerate. Maybe this is what it will take to encourage parents to rescue their children from the clutches of the State and give them a thoroughly Christian education.
Like most government schools, the Ridgeland School District has a vision for the future. It’s an America with the official religion of Atheism. Sprinkling Santa Claus on an evolutionary curriculum just makes their deception all the more deadly.
[1., 2., 3.] School Keeps Christmas, Halloween; Adds Ramadan, October 4, 2007. http://cbs2chicago.com/local/local_story_271104049.html
Brandon joined the staff of American Vision in September of 2004. Prior to American Vision, he served as the Executive Vice President of Answers in Genesis USA. He is also the CEO and Co-Founder of Tolle Lege Press—widely known for republishing the 1599 Geneva Bible. Brandon earned his M.B.A. from Thomas More College and his B.F.A. from West Virginia University. Brandon is a member of Grace Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Douglasville, Georgia. He resides in Dallas, GA with his wife, Jan, and their six children.
