Christian candy caners. (Making a Difference).(high school students win right to distribute religious literature, Westfield, Massachusetts)

During last year's holiday season, seven members of the Love and Insight for Eternity (L.I.F.E.) Bible Club at Westfield High School in Westfield, Massachusetts, decided to pass out candy canes accompanied by folded cards that, among other things, explained the confection's Christian significance.

"According to legend," the message read, "there was a candy maker who wanted to invent a candy that was a witness to Christ.... First of all, he used a hard candy because Christ is the Rock of Ages. This hard candy was shaped so that it would resemble a 'J' for Jesus or a shepherd's staff. He made it white to represent the purity of Christ. Finally, a red stripe was added to represent the blood of Christ that was shed for the sins of the world and three thinner red stripes for the stripes he received on our behalf when the Roman soldiers whipped him. The flavor of the candy is peppermint, which is similar to hyssop. Hyssop is in the mint family and was used in the Old Testament for purification and sacrifice." The card also included Bible verses, a religious message, and a prayer.

The students hoped to distribute the emblems to classmates on December 19th, the day before Christmas break. Club representatives met with school Principal Thomas Daley to secure his permission, but Daley turned them down, reportedly because he thought the Christian theme might offend other students. He had rejected a similar request the year before but later agreed to permit distribution of the candy canes if any accompanying message merely read "Happy Holidays," "Season's Greetings," or some similarly innocuous salutation.

Westfield Public Schools Superintendent Thomas McDowell backed the principal's position. In a December 18th letter to Mathew Staver, president and general counsel of the civil liberties legal defense and education organization Liberty Counsel, McDowell asserted: "We do not allow students to distribute non-school curriculum or activity-related literature of any kind directly to other students on school grounds."