Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented on the latest entry to the league’s “Christmas Watch” program:
“Every year the Sanfordville PTA in Warwick, New York does a Santa fundraiser at the local elementary school. Called ‘Breakfast with Santa,’ it draws hundreds of kids on a Saturday, all of whom come voluntarily. But because one anonymous bigot objected this year—citing religious discrimination—the event was reworked by school lawyers: there will now be a ‘Winter Wonderland Breakfast.’ Moreover, Santa will now have a partner: Frosty the Snowman has been ordered to join him.
“The bigot, of course, wants no compromise and wants Santa removed altogether. According to Darlene Baratto, who is in charge of the event, ‘We have a beautiful background people can have a picture in front of. That wasn’t good enough. We changed the name, colors, the background. Nothing made her happy. She was not open to anything. We’ll have 300 or so kids who are disappointed.’ Not to worry, school superintendent Dr. Frank Greenhall reassured everyone when he said, ‘If you make it an issue, the kids will make it an issue.’ Now how’s that for leadership? Just shut up and don’t tell the kids why ‘Breakfast with Santa’ has been censored and they won’t know the difference.
“There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution, of course, that bans ‘Breakfast with Santa’ from taking place in a public school. This has nothing to do with the law—it has everything to do with bowing to the pressure of bigots. This is the new utilitarianism: the greatest good for the least number of people. And it is just as immoral as its parent principle—the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
“The community newspaper, the Warwick Advertiser, has a moral obligation to out the person responsible for this exercise in tyranny. Just as residents need to know who the child abusers are in their neighborhood, they need to know who among them would abuse the rights of children to enjoy Santa.”
