Were it not for Talking Points Memo, I wouldn’t have known that FOX News’ war on the War on Christmas had begun. I guess if Black Friday can creep into Thursday, then the War on Christmas can creep into mid-November.
And what did I learn?
Atheists are attacking A Charlie Brown Christmas in an elementary school in Little Rock, Arkansas!
Several Google searches brought up this article which goes over the situation: “an atheist group has complained about an elementary school’s plans to take its students to see the production of ‘Merry Christmas Charlie Brown’ at a local church.”
A Charlie Brown Christmas isn’t under attack at all. Heck, a spokesman for the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers doesn’t see any real problem with the production; he just thinks that if the school is going to have a field trip like that, then they should also teach the kids about other religions’ holidays. Even the mother who doesn’t want her child to attend doesn’t have a problem with A Charlie Brown Christmas; she just doesn’t want her child singled out for taunting by classmates because the child won’t attend. In short, it’s all just dumb.
This isn’t a volley in the War on Christmas. This is a volley in FOX’s endless War on Common Sense.
The common sense solution is to allow the field trip, and then also have a field trip to a mosque or a syngogue in Little Rock in connection with some other religion’s holiday.
The real victim in this situation? Agape Church of Little Rock.
Why are they the victim? Because FOX News has alerted Peanuts Worldwide that their copyrights are being violated.
They don’t license out A Charlie Brown Christmas for theatrical production. From the FAQ page on Peanuts.com, in answer to the question “My theatre group would like to do A Charlie Brown Christmas this year. How can I go about obtaining the rights?” they are vey specific: “We understand the interest in the community for A Charlie Brown Christmas, however at this time it is an animated special only; live theatrical rights are not available.”
Have people staged A Charlie Brown Christmas? Absolutely, a quick Google search will turn up church webpages, YouTube videos, and full scripts. At a guess, these have all flown under the radar.
But now FOX News has held up Agape Church as a copyright violator. In their zeal to fight the War on the War on Christmas, a church in Little Rock is in danger from lawyers and restraining orders thanks to FOX News’ friendly fire. FOX News has fragged one of their own.
Agape Church is the real victim here.
And I feel bad for them.
Good work, FOX News.
Now pardon me — this atheist needs to listen to the music from A Charlie Brown Christmas…