And then there was the annual Christmas program, which ACLU officials contend was overly Christianized.
It's one thing to walk in a "Winter Wonderland." It's another to sing "Away in a Manger" and "Silent Night." Except, of course, that Christmas is a celebration of … the birth of Christ. If we start weeding that little detail out, what's next? We stop mentioning racial equality on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day? No reference to the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July?
"Religious freedom for everyone is jeopardized when public schools promote and endorse religious activities," according to Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the Tennessee ACLU. (They pay her to say things like that with a straight face.) "It is unfortunate that we had to go to court to protect religious freedom, but we had no other choice."
A lot of the soldiers overseas today think they're over there, among other things, to protect religious freedom. Turns out, they could've just stayed home and taken CDs away from kindergartners. And, really, as a parent, wouldn't you feel better, knowing no one else, anywhere, is praying for your child today?
"We are pursuing this lawsuit in order to ensure the constitutional guarantee of separation of church and state," Weinberg adds, "so that Wilson County residents can decide for themselves whether or not they want to practice a particular religious faith."
Fair enough, only a) there is no such "constitutional guarantee," and b) Wilson County residents have already made that decision. And most have decided that Christianity is the faith they want to practice.
Does everyone go along with that? No. Are Christians at Lakeview cramming their faith down the throats of those whose inclinations are toward other faiths, or toward no faith at all? No.
No one stood up in a Lakeview classroom and said, "Everyone here who's Baptist gets an ‘A.' Presbyterians can go to recess first. Catholics can have extra chocolate pudding at lunch."
No favoritism. No forced prayers. Just a group of Americans for whom faith is a natural, integral part of their day-to-day life.
And a few neighbors, and some well-funded attorneys, who find that terrifying.
This year, as every year, all the ACLU wants for Christmas is to find more ways of eliminating freedom, in the name of preserving liberty.
Here's hoping Santa passes them by.