Annual Christmas Stupidity is Starting

Today I saw the first of what will be many stories involving stupidity by school or other public officials regarding what can and cannot be done at Christmastime (or WinterHolidaytime if Christmas offends you).

For more than a week, Mary Anne Bender helped her 10-year-old daughter learn her Christmas pageant lines and daydream about what costume she'd sew for the after-school play at Windmill Point Elementary.

But on the second day of practice, fifth-grader Kayla Vance was told she can't play Mrs. Claus in A Penguin Christmas because the principal has axed any mention of the word "Christmas" in holiday festivals.

Criticized last year by a parent who demanded strict separation of church and state issues, Principal Bernadette Floyd has decided instead to take a more generic approach to holidays, school district spokeswoman Janice Karst says.

"It was an unfortunate set of circumstances," said Karst, noting the school's music teacher was unaware of Floyd's policy. "Any reference to a religious holiday has the potential to offend anyone who is not part of that particular persuasion."

Although Karst said Floyd told her there will be "many opportunities" for Kayla to perform during holidays this school year, Bender said the principal told her there's not enough time to reschedule a different holiday play or sing-along this winter.

"The only alternatives she told me about are in the spring," Bender said. "I feel like I have the principal that canceled Christmas."

Apparently our founding documents now read that we have the right to life, liberty and not to be offended.