Candy shouldn't be intolerant
To paraphrase Art Linkletter’s television show, newspapers print some of the darndest things. The other day my associate editor, Crystal Lindell, passed me an article from the News Journal in Delaware regarding the infamous “candy cane civil suit,” an event that happened several years ago involving the origins of candy canes and religious intolerance.
To paraphrase Art Linkletter’s television show, newspapers print some of the darndest things. The other day my associate editor, Crystal Lindell, passed me an article from the News Journal in Delaware regarding the infamous “candy cane civil suit,” an event that happened several years ago involving the origins of candy canes and religious intolerance.
To paraphrase Art Linkletter’s television show, newspapers print some of the darndest things. The other day my associate editor, Crystal Lindell, passed me an article from the News Journal in Delaware regarding the infamous “candy cane civil suit,” an event that happened several years ago involving the origins of candy canes and religious intolerance.
Reportedly, a teacher at a Cape
Henlopen School
District (southern shore
of Delaware) read a story
about the origins of the candy cane, which explained that candy canes were
shaped like J to reflect the first letter in Jesus’ name. In addition, the
red-and-white coloring represented Jesus’ blood and purity, respectively.
As it so happened, a Muslim child in the class related the story to
her mother, who in turn complained to the school board about the introduction
of religious beliefs in a public school. The mother asked for an apology. The
board’s initial refusal to apologize about the incident quickly transformed
into a two-day suspension (with pay) of the teacher after the mother complained
to American Civil Liberties Union.
That suspension led to reported retaliation against the 8-year-old
student, which the mother claimed was ignored by the school. The Muslim family shortly
thereafter moved out of the school district after the incident, eventually
filing a lawsuit against the school district and the teacher.
Earlier this month U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson ruled that there
was enough evidence presented by the Muslim family to allow the civil rights
lawsuit to proceed. There are many more details in the article involving the
lawsuit, but I just wanted to provide you with the general overview.
When I read the article, I was a bit surprised to find that the
origins of the candy cane involved the letter J in Jesus as well as the blood
and purity symbolism. I had always thought that the shape represented a
shepherds’ staff.
In researching the origins of the candy cane, it seems that “there
are many legends and beliefs” surrounding the confection, such as the three red
stripes representing the Holy Trinity, the peppermint flavor symbolizing
hyssop, an Old Testament herb, and that the candy’s hardness reflected
Christianity’s solid foundation.
Well, as www.snopes.com and
other web sites, such as www.about.com detail, all this symbolism, excluding
the shepherd’s staff reference, is incorrect. There is no historical truth to
these Christmas stories about the J shape. Rather, it seems they’re
good-intentioned spins on the cane’s origin by writers and clergymen.
The most historical information regarding the candy cane’s creation
stems from an account about a late 17th
century choirmaster in Cologne who shaped plain white peppersticks in the form
of a - you guessed it - a shepherd’s staff to keep his children occupied during
long nativity-related ceremonies.