A Louisiana school district will not allow grade schoolers to attend a Christmas play that mentions Jesus during school hours because it might violate a federal court order barring the district from promoting religion at school.
For the past several years the Minden Junior Service League has performed a free Christmas production during school hours at the local high school.
This year’s half-hour production featured a “Toy Story” theme along with a brief reference to the Baby Jesus.
“Several in attendance felt that it was necessary to report us for the mention of the reason for the season – Jesus,” a Junior Service League spokesperson said in a powerful and emotional Facebook video.
After the first performance, the Webster Parish School District reached out to the service organization and urged them to remove the reference to Jesus.
The ladies in the Junior Service League flat-out rejected the request — even though it meant that their own children would not be permitted to see the performance.
“When this request was rejected, the school district had no other alternative than to withdraw from participation in the event or otherwise face contempt of court,” the district said in a statement.
Now, the local school officials are not the bad guys here, folks. It’s the American Civil Liberties Union and the federal court.
Earlier this year the school district was slapped with a federal court order “regulating religious activities in schools.”
That order specifically prohibits the school board and its employees from promoting religion at school — and the order also covers events hosted by third parties.
“The Junior Service League of Minden fell victim to the politics of the public school system and the religious debate that is abundantly present in their path,” the spokesperson said on Facebook.
The district feared that allowing children to attend the Christmas production would’ve violated the court order and subjected the district to a contempt of court citation.
“Because of the totality of the circumstances that we are now in, a newfound spotlight is shining upon the Webster Parish School System. No longer is there a gray area associated with this matter in our school system. This federal court order clearly spells out what is allowable and what is not,” Supt. Johnny Rowland, Jr. said.
The Junior Service League tearfully apologized to the many boys and girls who will not be able to see the performance.
“We are so very sorry,” the spokesperson said. “You are the reason we do this. You are why we do this play.”
What happened to the Minden Junior Service League should appall and disgust every freedom-loving American. May God bless those dear, sweet ladies.
We must stand up to the anti-Christian mafia and reject their hatred. We must stand up to the bullies — even if they wear judicial robes.
We must be civil in our fight, but we must not be silent.
Now, you understand why President Trump’s most important assignment is to fill our federal courts with strict constitutionalists.
