Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
a) you're not making a law
b) you're not establishing a religion
c) you're not even the government (I'm assuming it's a PTO fundraiser)
It might be fun to have a lawyer give them a dressing-down on their failure to understand basic Constitutional principles. Actually, it's probably more fun to have a laugh just thinking about it ... and then get back to the real issues of the PTO.
There is so much diversity in our school system that there is no way that we can cater to everyone. Even when there wasn't diversity, people still complained.
It's, unfortunately, a thankless job that comes with issues. Try to focus on the task at hand...raising much needed funds for your school. You don't have to apologize, just tell them that it was the best deal with the most profits for the "children" and that you will be more than willing to have them research other fundraisers, if they want, and bring their findings to the next meeting.
Laura is absolutely correct, there is nothing untoward in regards to the selling of these items. If people complain politely tell them to.. haha, kidding, tell them they are not obliged to buy these products at all.
The people that are complaining are fanatical atheists, not anyone with an actual belief in a specific religion. The catalog was chosen based on the great deal that the company was willing to give us and not any other reason.
This is the first time the company has heard of this type of situation so that should tell you something. It's brought a lot of stress and drama to our PTO Board and distracted from what our focus should be...the children's education! I'm very frustrated with the whole situation and we have lost our treauserer due to it. She refuses to work with them. I don't blame her but I am now under a lot of stress.
Laura is absolutely correct, there is no legal issue here.
There may be a cultural sensitivity issue, though. If your school is heavily Jewish or Muslim or otherwise non-Christian, and if the catalog does not also include similar items for people of those faiths, you might want to consider a different fund-raising company next time, or pressing this one to include more diverse items.
Wow. Separation of church and state is designed to make sure that there is no specific government-sponsored religion to which everyone is forced to adher or that no specific religion dictates government (or school) procedures, but it doesn't mean that you can't offer a few Christian items in a gift catalog. If there were rules in place forcing someone to buy those items or a pamphlet on Christian views given with the catalog, I could see the objection. Instead, if there are a limited number of items among a great number of choices and there are people who might want to buy those items, why restrict your fundraising options that way? I'd respond with a recommendation that people not linger on items that are not of interest - since that's how most people go through those catalogs anyway.
