Texas judge orders school district to restore Charlie Brown Christmas display
"A Charlie Brown Christmas" is back on display at the Patterson Middle School in Killeen, Texas after a judge ordered the school district to restore the decoration.
The door-length poster, which featured the Peanuts character "Linus," was displayed on a door inside the school on Dec. 5 by Dedra Shannon who is a nurse's aide at the school, according to The Christian Post.
The display quoted Linus as saying, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior which is Christ the Lord. That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."
A few days later, the Killeen School Board members voted for the removal of the poster, claiming that it imposes Shannon's personal beliefs on the students.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton made an appeal to the state district court to have the poster restored. He cited the state's 2013 Merry Christmas law, which stipulates that Biblical references to Christmas cannot be silenced by any school official.
Last Thursday, Bell County State District Judge Jack Jones issued a temporary injunction against Killeen Independent School District in order to prevent it from enforcing its decision to remove Shannon's display.
"Religious discrimination toward Christians has become a holiday tradition of sorts among certain groups. I am glad to see that the court broke through the left's rhetorical fog and recognized that a commitment to diversity means protecting everyone's individual religious expression," said Paxton regarding the injunction.
The judge also ruled that the display should include a disclaimer saying, "Ms. Shannon's Christmas Message."
The school district said in a press release that they support the judge's decision.
Shannon was represented in court by Jonathan Saenz, the president of Texas Values. He said that the school district could have avoided the court dispute. He argued that the display did not ask anyone to convert to Christianity, and it only stated the reason why Christians celebrate Christmas.
"This scenario is exactly why the Merry Christmas law was written — to protect teachers, staff, and students in their expression of the Christmas season," Saenz said in a statement.