Pushing back against the PCification of America

This is an uncorked rant.

A student is suing the school that withheld her diploma because she mentioned Jesus in her valedictory address.

Erica Corder was one of 15 valedictorians at Lewis-Palmer High School in 2006. All were invited to speak for 30 seconds at the graduation ceremony. When it was Corder’s turn, she encouraged the audience to get to know Jesus Christ.

Corder had not included those remarks during rehearsals.

Corder’s lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court, said Principal Mark Brewer told her to prepare a public apology or she would not receive her diploma. She was still allowed to graduate.

The lawsuit said Brewer would not give Corder her diploma until she included a sentence saying, “I realize that, had I asked ahead of time, I would not have been allowed to say what I did.” Corder received her diploma after complying.

Had she mentioned Ghandi or Mohammed, there wouldn’t have been a problem. Good for her for smacking the school with a lawsuit. If the secular progressives want to wage war in court since they can’t win at the ballot box, then responding with a lawsuit that costs the school money is far game.

The fact that she one of 15 “valedictorians” was itself a sign of PC — it’s becoming common for schools to remove the “unhealthy competition” attached to academic honors by just naming a whole batch of students as “valedictorian.” Still looks good on a resume, I guess, but you can’t remove “unhealthy competition” from life and it ought not be removed from school.

Unfortunately, we’re removing “unhealthy competition” earlier and earlier in life. Try and find a youth sports league where they keep score and maintain standings anymore. The whole point of sports is to foster teamwork, promote physical activity and to teach kids how to be gracious in victory as well as in defeat. That in turn teaches them that to achieve, one must work to improve their skills. But if there’s nothing to achieve and everyone gets the same trophy whether they showed up and played their heart out in every game or barely played at all, why improve? Why work hard? “Because it’s fun” only gets you so far, and not very far at all in real life.

Elsewhere, but coincidentally with the first story in Colorado, a holiday decorating committee in Ft. Collins tried to scrub all things Christian from this year’s Christmas. Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden is having none of it.

Ft. Collins is becoming more like the imbecilic borough of Boulder than many would like to admit; where social agendas substitute for common sense.

Last week, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly righteously ridiculed the recommendations of Ft. Collins’ Holiday Display Task Force on The O’ Reilly Factor. For the uninformed, the Task Force recommended that only “white lights and secular symbols not traditionally associated with any particular holiday” be permitted. It further recommended “removing red ribbons from wreaths and removing stars and ornaments from trees.” Acceptable symbols of winter include “snowflakes, snowmen, snowballs, ice skates, skis, penguins, polar bears, white lights, etc.” (Penguins? This is dangerous territory. What about those of us who were traumatized by Danny DeVito’s performance as Oswald Cobblepot in Batman Returns? Skis? What about the poor who can’t afford to go skiing? How elitist and insensitive!) The Task Force managed to avoid any reference to Santa Claus, AKA St. Nick, but one would assume the jolly old gentleman would be banned due to the association of saints with religion.

While the secular progressives have tried to take Christ out of Christmas, supported and bolstered by the ACLU which is waging its own Jihad against Christianity, the majority of Americans, including those living in Larimer County and Ft. Collins, recognize and value our Christian heritage. Valuing our heritage while being tolerant of other religions!

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Most of the members of the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office are Christians and celebrate Christmas. We pray for the continued safety of our brothers and sisters in blue, and recognize that the laws we are sworn to uphold have their very foundation in the laws laid down by God through Moses. Our criminal codes are based on Judaic Christian doctrine. To deny that by restricting symbols of Christian faith on public property is beyond the pale. In recognition and celebration of Christmas, members of the LCSO will be displaying a Christmas tree – not a holiday tree – on our front lawn at 2501 Midpoint Drive. We will be decorating the tree on December 1 at 10:00 a.m. and invite members of the public who share our faith or object to government intrusion into our religious freedoms to join us.

In order to ensure that no tax dollars are spent on this “unauthorized” display, donations of lights and ornaments will be gratefully accepted. Might I suggest that red ribbons, stars, angels and multi-colored lights would be in order? We will strive for (dare I say) “uniformity,” not diversity, and request the largest and brightest LED lights, size C-9 ¼. ($9.99 at Walgreens with 50% off the second set.). Lights, decorations and donations can be dropped off at our headquarters and left in the lobby or vestibule at any time. (No frightening penguins.) Please attach your name so appropriate thanks and recognition can be given in our Bull Sheet publication. Donations for Santa Cops, to ensure a joyous Christmas for disadvantaged children in our community, will also be accepted. Please join our LCSO family and share our joy on December 1. Refreshments will be provided.

Good. I particularly like the request for the biggest lights you can buy. I’m sure the ACLU will make him regret it, though.

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