A Belmont school’s field trip to see “The Nutcracker’’ is back on after what some may view as a battle between common sense and political correctness run amok.

Earlier this week, the Butler Elementary School PTA cancelled the trip, a tradition at the school for years, because the ballet’s religious content might be offensive to some students. Most scarring, they believed, would be the Christmas tree gracing the stage — the stage a Christmas ballet was being performed on. Some parents worried if they were being discriminatory by allowing their children to go on the trip, WHDH reports.

After pushback from other parents, some of whom alleged that the PTA tried to keep the trip’s cancellation secret, the (voluntary) excursion is back on the schedule.


Whew, that was close.

Like many elements that have been incorporated into Christian holidays, the Christmas tree has pagan roots. Ancient people living in wintery climes revered evergreen plants, believing that they warded off everything from evil spirits to illness, according to The History Channel. During the winter solstice, evergreen plants were a reminder that spring would eventually return. And they made the house smell nice.

What we now consider the Christmas tree originated in Germany in the 16th century, but didn’t catch on in America until the 19th century. As they did with everything festive, Puritans leaders frowned upon the trees: a “pagan mockery’’ of the holiday, pilgrim governor William Bradford called it.

A rush of German immigrants in the 1800s and the endorsement of the fashionable English Queen Victoria, who influenced trends in American society, changed that. With the advent of those pretty, twinkly electric lights in 20th century, the tree became all but indispensable to Christmas in America.

So, really, the Christmas tree is less a brainwashing symbol of Christianity and more a relatively recent trend popularized in America by German immigrants, an English Queen, and people who like looking at pretty lights during the darkest time of the year.