However, the whole Santa issue has made me come to the realization that the separation of church and state is a really good idea.
We live in a small school district where holidays are still celebrated. I like that. I think it's kind of weird not to acknowledge what most kids are experiencing in their lives. Roy came home from school with a Kwanza candle holder he had made (I'm sure there's a name for it...displaying my ignorance.) and I'm really good with that. I want my kids to know about what goes on in the world outside their tiny bubble. I'm not mad that there wasn't also a unit about Jesus' birth. My kids already know about that. Teaching them is my job.
What I think is strange is that teachers are so pro-Santa as if everyone teaches their kids that Santa is reality. I mean, I get why teachers don't spoil the fun for the ones that do. I'm not saying that teachers should out the parents and the whole charade, but to be totally Santa-focussed is almost a form of religious-persecution for the poor kids who have been told the truth that Santa is make-believe.
I mean, it would be one thing if they presented the religion of Santa as a belief as they would any other belief system...i.e. Christians believe such and such, Jews believe thus and thus, Hindus believe whatever, Santa followers believe that a big fat man in a red suit is the one who brings your presents on Christmas etc., but they don't present it that way at all. Instead, the teachers have kids write letters to Santa. Teachers say things like, "I hope Santa isn't watching you right now." (Fact, although I will never reveal where I heard this.) They give out Santa gifts. It's all Santa for the month of December.
This has turned one of my kids into an anti-Santa evangelist. We are not anti-Santa, but we have taught our kids that Santa is a myth and something parents play with their kids at Christmas time. We have told them it's not their job to tell kids that their parents are wrong. However, I kind of feel that the constant barrage of Santa propaganda probably made my scrappy son feel backed into a corner where he felt the need to fight his way out.
Today, one of his friends tattled on him to me. "Sarah, he doesn't believe in Santa." As if to say, "Can you believe that? Tell him he is wrong!" I wanted to defend my son but I also didn't want to ruin the whole game for him and his family so I said, "Do you think you can still be friends even though you don't believe the same things?" He said he thought they could.
When an entire group of adults goes to such great lengths to convince my child of something that no one believes to be actually true, it makes me glad that teachers are not allowed to try to convince my child of a belief system that they do actually believe to be true. I mean, I think that people get all bent out of shape about the separation of church and state because they assume that everyone is a Christian and that their kids' teachers would be teaching them Christian principles. But what if my kid's teacher is an atheist? We live in a country where hiring decisions are not based on religion so this is entirely possible. Do I want my child, in a public school, to be taught that there is no God? I really don't. So I think the same can be true of a parent who is an atheist in regard to Christian beliefs.
Frankly, I feel that my kids' spiritual education is my job. Actually, all of their education is my job, however, I am totally OK with getting lots of help from the amazing educators in our public school system. I don't expect them to do it for me. Take reading, for example. I do my job by reading to my kids for hours and hours, introducing new vocabulary, exposing them to tons of books and listening to them read. The mechanics of reading and all those tricky grammar rules, they have learned from teachers. How about math? They pretty much taught themselves by playing and watching sports, but all the rote practice is enforced by teachers. I'm pretty sure that my kids' teachers do not have to love Jesus in order to be awesome at helping my kid learn to read and do math.
When it comes to enlisting help with our kids' spiritual education, we found people who love Jesus. We have a great church community with other families we trust and our kids know. They have Sunday School teachers and pastors and other adults who encourage them in their budding faith. But I don't expect these people to do my job.
In Deuteronomy 5, God gives the people the 10 commandments. Then in chapter 6, Moses tells them that these commandments are to be upon their hearts and that they are to impress them on their children (or teach them diligently to their children). He goes on to say, "Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Basically, teaching our kids about God is supposed to be an all the time thing that happens in families. God didn't say, "Send them to school so they can learn about me." No, he tells us to do it.
I'm really not bent out of shape about Santa at school. And no, I did not tell my son that he is facing religious persecution because of his unbelief...that's just me being melodramatic. But it did give me some small peek into the life of someone who might hold a different view than the majority and an appreciation for letting parents be the teachers.
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