Photo of a display of “Peanuts” cartoons by the late Charles Schulz at the Frankfurt Book Fair on Oct. 15, 2008. (credit: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images)
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (CBS Atlanta) — Charlie Brown has been caught in the crossfire of the “war on Christmas” mantra.
KARK-TV reports that some parents were upset that Terry Elementary School in Little Rock wanted to take children to go see a play of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” at a local church.
“The parents that we know in this situation are reluctant to speak up because they are concerned about their kids being singled out and bullied,” Anne Orsi, a lawyer and member of the Arkansas Society of Free Thinkers, told KARK.
The group is a volunteer organization of secular individuals whose goals are to “promote public acceptance of nonbelievers” and “defend science education and the separation of church and state.”
Orsi said on the group’s Facebook page that the school is “sponsoring field trips to evangelical churches.”
“While everyone loves Charlie Brown, the religious content of the program is a problem, as is the trip to a church to see it,” she said.
Parents had mixed feelings about the controversy.
Shamar Stokes told KARK that he has a problem with the religious aspect but, in the end, “wouldn’t have a problem with my child going to see Charlie Brown.”
One unidentified parent did have a problem, though.
“I think church and school should be kept completely separate at all times,” the parent told the station.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas,” which was first released in 1965, is the story about Charlie Brown looking past the commercialism that surrounds Christmas and finds the true meaning of the day through his friend Linus.
