School Cancels ‘Nutcracker’ Ballet Trip Over ‘Offensive’ Christmas Tree On Stage: Has Political Correctness Gone Too Far?

A Belmont, Massachusetts, elementary school canceled a second-grade field trip to see The Nutcracker last week because some parents thought children would be offended by the “religious content” of the ballet.

Butler Elementary School’s PTA cancelled the annual trip, a school tradition for many years, after a few parents expressed concerns that the “questionable content” of the ballet may be offensive to some students.

The questionable content? A Christmas tree on the stage.

WHDH reports that the issue came to a head during a PTA meeting last week, in which some parents were told they were being discriminatory if they allowed their children to go to The Nutcracker.

“They should still offer it but you don’t have to go if you don’t like,” parent Adam Campana said.

Other parents said that they were upset because the PTA kept the whole issue under wraps, canceling the trip without telling anyone. But word about what had happened got out.

“In the past years there were parents’ complaints, as ‘The Nutcracker’ has a religious content. I think we clarified with the parents,” said PTA Co-President Barbara Bulfoni.

Common sense prevailed after objections by other parents, and the trip is back on — this time as a voluntary activity for the students — although parents fear the issue will probably come up again next year. One PTA board member is even considering stepping down over the controversy.

All of this over a decorated tree.

The history of the Christmas tree shows the sheer ridiculousness of this argument. Use of evergreen trees as a Christmas decoration, like many other traditions that have been incorporated into the holiday, has pagan roots. Ancient people revered evergreen plants, and during the winter solstice, evergreens were a reminder that spring would return.

Early American Puritans actually shunned the Christmas tree as a pagan mockery of the holiday. The modern Christmas tree, which originated in 16th century Germany, didn’t catch on in America until the 19th century with the influx of German immigrants and its use by Queen Victoria, who influenced American society and fashions.

In reality, there is no Christian symbolism whatsoever in a Christmas tree – we just like sparkly things.

So these parents were getting offended over a simple decoration, which, as Boston.com points out, is ” less a brainwashing symbol of Christianity and more a relatively recent trend popularized in America by German immigrants, an English Queen, and people who like looking at pretty lights during the darkest time of the year.”

Unfortunately, this incident is just one episode of many in which people seem to think that the religious freedom America was founded on only applies to their beliefs – and contrary to what many think, politically correct fanatics aren’t “out to get” only Christians. The Inquisitr reported recently on a man who complained about his child’s Jewish teacher wearing a Star of David necklace.

Instead of teaching our children to respect other’s religious freedoms, is all of this really teaching them that it is not okay to have different beliefs? What do you think?

[Image via Visit Philly]