Naturally, the school didn’t have a problem with other costumes, some of which carried their own religious implications. The devils’ and witches’ outfits were okay. The kid dressed as “Death” was a hoot.

But Jesus? The school couldn’t take that risk.

To be fair, Abington has its reputation to think of. It’s the same district that made headlines half a century ago in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared school-sponsored devotional Bible reading in public schools to be unconstitutional.

As a character or an object of reverence, Jesus clearly isn’t welcome in Abington schools. Nor are those who take Him seriously. The question is: why?

What is it about the Christian faith that so unnerves our public officials and private atheists? Not believing is one thing – persecuting those who do is something else. Did school authorities really believe that this child’s peers, seeing him dressed as Jesus, would fall to their knees and convert on the spot? That they’d go home and ask their parents questions? Did they think the boy would grab a mike and start preaching, or try to turn pumpkins into wine?

Really, the nature of their panic is hard to fathom. After all, Jesus’ teachings are not only important to those who consider Him the Son of God; they are the basis for countless tenets of polite behavior. Why we wouldn’t want our children learning to turn the other cheek, go the second mile, reach out in mercy to those who are lonely or impoverished or hurting? Would it be so awful if they strove to emulate His integrity, His selflessness, His love?

Oh, it’s a scary thought all right. Better to let our kids watch cinematic bloodbaths, and joke about serial killers and satanic rites and bewitching vengeances. These are the ideals that inspire depth of character. These are what we want to parade before our children, and celebrate with publicly-funded school festivities.

Interesting, all the effort our government and courts expend, frantically trying to keep our kids away from a God Who is – by definition – everywhere, all the time. Maybe we think that by systematically removing every element of faith from our society, we’re gradually evolving a more broad-minded generation.

But, in fact, we’re not. All we’re really doing is … creating a monster.