Peace On Earth: Giving Individuals Control

(National Review Online)  This column was written by Carrie Lukas

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Like light displays and an onslaught of catalogs, controversy over Christmas has become a December tradition. Whether it's Christmas trees removed from government buildings, Santa Claus expelled from public schools, or retail employees wishing customers "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas," debates rage about whether to celebrate the Christian holiday Christmas or the secular (and politically correct) "Christmas season."

Politicians and governments have two strategies for ducking this controversy — they can hide behind claims that anything vaguely religious is out-of-bounds, or take the multicultural path of incorporating every imaginable faith into holiday expressions. Private entities have tougher calculation to make. In our easily offended society, mass marketers teeter between angering secularist with explicitly religious trappings and alienating Christians by neutering Christmas of its religious significance.

In the private sphere, individuals have an outlet for their grievances. Consumers can vote with their dollars, patronizing stores and corporations that reflect their values and shunning those that don't. When Target — the nation's second largest retailer — decided not to allow the Salvation Army (a Christian aid group) to solicit donations in front of their stores, many customers condemned the decision and pledged not to shop there this season. In fact, according to MSNBC, five thousand clergy members encouraged churchgoers to boycott Target because of this decision, which one pastor characterized as "an attack against American tradition."

Last year, Wal-Mart embraced a "Happy Holidays" theme, minimizing specific mentions of Christmas. This provoked an outcry from some Christian communities, and Wal-Mart reversed this decision for the 2006 Christmas season. Best Buy, however, has decided to continue defaulting to "Happy Holidays," which a company spokesman described as "the most respectful position" available.

Who is right when it comes to the appropriateness of public Christmas displays? To an extent, it doesn't matter. When these decisions are made in the private sphere, there is no need for a one-size-fits-all judgment. And most shoppers don't pay attention to companies' Christmas-related policies: They just want the best deals and the least hassles. Yet it's healthy that individuals have the option of boycotting a specific store. It gives individuals power.

Debates become much more contentious when individuals don't have this freedom. Consider the public-school system. Not only do school administrators struggle to handle the holidays, they face numerous other issues entangled with religious overtones, from the teaching of evolution and sex education to the content of American-history classes.

These issues become emotional and often rancorous because individuals have little ability to exercise individual choice. Most children still are assigned a public school based on their zip code. Parents who disagree with policies or practices at that school have limited options: They can move, pay private-school tuition, or teach the student at home themselves. A lucky few in communities across the country can benefit from programs that allow for greater choice within the public-school system. But, in general, most families — particularly low-income families — have few realistic alternatives to the neighborhood public school.

Private schools are an appealing option for those who can afford it. They allow parents to select a school that they believe not only will provide their children with a quality education, but that also reflects their values. Nearly half of all students attending private school are enrolled in Catholic schools, and many of those students' families are not religious: An estimated 13.5 percent of parochial school students (more than 300,000 students) aren't Catholic. Their parents know that their children are going to be exposed to Catholic teachings as a part of their curriculum, but they have decided that the other attributes of these schools — perhaps the character education, the consistent discipline, the challenging courses — outweigh any discomfort with the religious element.

That's how choice works. You won't hear many complaints from parents who have selected a school for their children; if they are unhappy, they'll take their business (and their children) elsewhere. Peace on Earth — at least when it comes to squabbles over religion in the public square — is best achieved by giving individuals as much control as possible over how they live their lives.

By Carrie Lukas
Reprinted with permission from National Review Online

[sharncedar]

Suppose there was school choice and some kids did go to religious schools - so what. Other parents could choose the schools they wanted, everyone gets what they want.

The corporate state is certainly against school choice. How do we know that? Because it isn't happening. What the corporate state wants is a two-tier system (like in everything else) where a small elite is given school choice and trained to be an arrogant class of users and takers, I guess this is the officer corps in fascist culture design, and the rest are put in schools that are controlled in curriculum and social order, and forced into mind-destroying political correctness.

And that's exactly what we have today. That is the system. The public schools are institutions that are designed to dumb down and suppress the intellects of the non-officers, and the private schools are designed to create arrogant and cruel slave masters for the next generation. You really see this at the college level more than high school.

Being "against" school choice is aexactly what the system wants, its not your opinion, its the state's opinion being expressed through you.

[fascistusa]

Welcome my Friends to the NEW WORLD ORDER.

Everyone MUST get along. Any deviation will be dealt with severly by BIG BROTHER.

Aceept your SLAVERY and just make this easier on our FASCIST CORPORATE GLOBALIST Wealthy Slave Masters.

[jimfinster]

grumpas:

I would tend to agree with you. The "school choice" debate is primarily about funding religous-themed schools. The people that are pushing this know that it will never fly if honestly portrayed. So they frame it as a choice issue.

[jimfinster]

campbelldj: "No surprise that most good schools are in very wealthy areas, where most can't afford to live."

Yes, wealthy areas have good schools, no surprise there. But there are many many many good schools outside these areas also. Do just a little research, and you will see this is true.

[campbelldj]

jimfinster, the type of school choice you advocate is certainly NOT available to most. No surprise that most good schools are in very wealthy areas, where most can't afford to live. We need to increase the quality of education provided to all students, or else we can kiss our powerful economy good-bye. We are turning out legions of students with poor skills in reading, writing, math and science. As the world gets smaller and smaller, these students will have a hard time competitng on a global level. American labor is obviously much costlier than that in India, China, Latin America, etc. Employers better get a quality premium for that extra expense or they will have no incentive to stay.

[grumpas]

What school choice is campbelldj is a way for religious school's to get American taxpayer funds! For the American taxpayer to fund a large part of their schools! Before, if you sent your child to paracoial school you had to foot the whole bill yourself! With this choice plan the parent would get so much money to educate their child in a school of their choice regardless of whether it was religious or not! School Choice is supported by such people as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson! I personally resent my tax dollars going to pay for someone's religious indoctrination! If parent's want to send their child to a religious school fine that is there business! But, I the taxpaying public should not have to pay for it! I don't agree with most religion's they teach bigotry, intolerance and hate! There is no way would I send my child or Grandchild to a religious school! All they are trying to do is undermine the public school system with this nonsense! As always religion is trying to get their greedy hands in the taxpayer's pocket!

[jimfinster]

You already have almost infinite choice, and that is the ability to move to a place where you DO like the school!

[jpesot]

Wealthy kids can always get in the "good schools". Unfortunately, most so called "school choice plans" will do little to level the playing field. As one exmaple, most voucher programs are really intended to partially subsidize the private education of wealthy kids. The vouchers won't cover all the costs and so the less fortunate won't be able to take advantage of them anyway.

[campbelldj]

This idea of school choice really confuses me. Obviously, a school has limited space, and while everybody will try to 'choose' the good schools... only a few will be assigned to their choice. The rest will be sent to sub-par schools. Add in the influence of wealth and power, and it seems that (just like today!) the rich will be in good schools and the poor in bad. I do think our current system of public education is largely broken, and not preparing the next generation of Americans for the 21st century. However, instead of focusing on school choice, let's focus on improving ALL schools, especially those that serve the poorest among us.