Tamar said:
>>No one would force your child to abandon those songs. The issue is whether the teacher in a public school (who is a representative of the state) can make singing them part of class.


Amendment I - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment X - States' Rights. Ratified 12/15/1791

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Doug, Tamar, et all:

What's interesting is that no one has brought up the issue of states rights. Public schools are not run by the federal government (thank goodness). In Texas, schools are locally based, IOW, the authority has been mostly delegated to the local level.

If a local school system allows a teacher to sing Christmas songs, that is not the same as the US Congress making a law respecting an establishment of religion. I don't see a violation of the 1st Amendment here. However, if the US government were to make a law prohibiting the singing of Christmas songs in a locally run public school, there would be a clear violation of both the 1st Amendment and the 10th Amendment.

But, I also agree that parents also have the right to have their children excluded from such activities. Another example of this is Halloween. I personally find Halloween offensive, and believe that is a religious occasion. Yet, the celebration of Halloween is given more freedom in public schools now than the celebration of Christmas. As a parent, I would reserve my right to have my children not participate in Halloween activities.