The war on Christmas is really a war on the foundation of our nation – the belief that we are one nation under God.
And the effort by leftists to silence the Reason for the Season is no trivial matter, as I wrote in my new book, “Culture Jihad: How to Stop the Left From Killing a Nation.”
The latest battle front in the war on Christmas is South Sutter Charter School in northern California.
Brooklyn Benzel, a 13-year-old eighth grader, was told she could not perform an instrumental version of “Joy to the World” because the song is too religious.
“The education specialist said the song might be deemed inappropriate because it might be too religious,” Julianne Benzel said during an interview on The Todd Starnes Radio Show.
Mrs. Benzel, who is running for Congress, initially dismissed the teacher’s concerns, but the following day she received an email that confirmed the song had been banned.
“They told me the song was too religious to be submitted,” she said. “They told me words like savior and heaven might be crossing the line.”
Yes, good readers, it seems as though the school feared words like Lord and Savior and Heaven might trigger the godless.
So the school suggested that Brooklyn consider playing a more secular holiday tune like “Jingle Bells.”
“Her justification was that it was more culturally appropriate,” Mrs. Benzel said.
Now, at that point the Benzel family had a choice – they could either accept the charter school’s censorship or they could fight back.
Mrs. Benzel decided to go to war.
“There’s no way I’m going to relent,” she said. “I could have easily submitted a new song, but the next thing you know the First Amendment is dead.”
Pacific Justice Institute, a law firm that specializes in religious liberty cases, threatened to get involved at the request of Brooklyn’s family – and in a matter of moments – the charter school reversed its decision.
“Thank God for Pacific Justice Institute,” Mrs. Benzel said. “It’s a sad day when you have to invoke them but that’s why I’m so grateful for them.
So here’s the moral of the story: when a public or charter school tries to silence Christian boys and girls, it is imperative that moms and dads rise up and jingle somebody’s bells.