Is Halloween off limits in the public schools? Do witches and goblins
cut out of craft paper and hung on blackboards violate the separation of
church and state? The answer is “almost certainly not,” but the fact
that the question is being asked at all is reason for concern. In recent
months, schools and libraries around the country have been assailed for
preaching witchcraft, promoting Satanism and leading children down the
path of spiritual darkness.
The source of all this controversy? The wild success of J.K. Rowling’s
Harry Potter novels. Educators and librarians have attempted to
capitalize on the popularity of these works among the pre-teen set to
promote interest in reading generally. But their efforts have met with
attempts to block use of the books in at least thirteen states. In
Jacksonville, Florida earlier this year, a public library stopped
issuing “certificates of achievement” with a supernatural theme to
children who attended public readings from the Rowling books, after a
local pastor complained and a right wing religious group threatened
suit. The Santa Fe, Texas school district (the same district whose
policy of allowing an official opening prayer at high school football
games was just struck down by the Supreme Court) now requires parental
permission before children may read the Potter books.
So is your school risking litigation by holding a Halloween party? Not
really. Courts have not typically been sympathetic to such charges. In
one case, arising in Mahoning County, parents sued to enjoin a school
from using the name Blue Devils and a related logo for its athletic
teams. The parents claimed that the name and mascot promoted Satanism,
violating the principal of separation between church and state set forth
in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
The United States Court of Appeals was not convinced, holding that: “the
fact that [the Parents] are personally offended by the mascot is
insufficient to establish a First Amendment violation . . . no
reasonable observer would believe that the use of the devil as a mascot
is meant to endorse or disapprove any religious choice.” In short, the
court found the parents to be unduly sensitive, and their claim that the
mascot promoted Satanism far fetched and not particularly believable. A
similar result ended a federal case in California, where members of a
local religious group opposed the placement of a traditional Mexican
statue bearing a snake in a city park: the court was unconvinced that
anyone intended to promote either Satanism or the ancient pagan beliefs
of the Aztecs.
The general rule governing religious themes in a school context was set
forth by the Supreme Court nearly thirty years ago: schools may not,
among other things, adopt policies which either “advance or inhibit” a
specific faith, or religion in general. Claims that Harry Potter or
Halloween advance Satanism may spook some alarmists, but the courts have
generally not taken so grave an approach, finding less hidden meaning
buried in these old tales than simple good fun.
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