I really think that the measures public schools are taking to prevent the stepping on anybody's toes are beginning to get ridiculous. There are increasing instances of songs being edited to remove words like "God" or even "holy" from them, and candy canes have even been prohibited if they have religious messages on them. Parties and events cannot be called "Christmas" parties, and the Christmas break schools have has been mysteriously renamed as the "Winter Break". All in the interest of secularity, right?
OK, OK, all of the above I can stomach. For all of the above, it can technically be argued that such practices will promote a religion and therefore are unconstitutional given the principles of separation of church and state. (Not laws, as it's never in the Constitution, but that's another thing entirely.) But there is one instance that is entirely inexplicable. There is a school where you cannot say "Christmas"! The word has been officially banned from the campus!
You know what, I'll let them have that stupid rule. I just ask for a few other conditions as well:
1. The word "Hannukah" be banned from the campus. 2. The word "Kwanzaa" be banned from the campus. 3. All other religious holidays or references be banned from the campus.
In short, all I'm asking for here is some consistency. If you want to edit songs, edit all the religious songs. If you want to ban religious symbols, ban all religious symbols. And, by God, if you're actually going to ban the word "Christmas" from your campus, ban the other holidays as well!
To sum it all up, I'm starting to feel that these measures are not a move towards secularity, but a move away from Christianity.
But maybe I'm just paranoid.
I don't think you should really be threatened by it, but fairness is good, and schools like that are overreacting.
Im all for it...I dont want my kids learning about other religions from someone else.
Christmas is a big lie anywho...
It kind of annoys me, as it's gotten to the the point where it's ridiculous. Who here has bought their Holiday trees, anyone? It's Christmas, of course it's going to have some religious undertones to it, at heart it's a religious holiday, beyond all the commercialism.
gameplayerabmIn short, all I'm asking for here is some consistency. If you want to edit songs, edit all the religious songs. If you want to ban religious symbols, ban all religious symbols. And, by God, if you're actually going to ban the word "Christmas" from your campus, ban the other holidays as well!
Well said, but, if that were to happen, where is the freedom of religion? a person should be able to express him/herself in a religious way.
i dont care if there is religious undertones, greatings, words, symbols it doesnt matter at all to me, it would be nice if others where like that
Hey, if someone had a Hannukah party, I'd go, unless I wasn't invited. Am I Jewish? Not that I recall. If I lived in a Jewish neighborhood, I'd expect to be inundated with Jewish ideas and practices. I wouldn't moan about it because I'm Christian - they would be the majority, and I would leave them alone, if not actually join in.
People who are not Christian can still celebrate Christian holidays, because even if you don't believe in the religious part of it, you can support the general idea. Christmas = a happy, joyous holiday. Celebrate that if you don't want to celebrate the birth of Christ.
It's Christmas break and it's a friggin' Christmas tree. Fuck all of that "holiday tree" shit. Political correctness has gone too far and somebody needs to put a stop to it. I swear if I hear one more person say "differently abled" or "vertically challenged", I'm going to scream...
Inyri ForgePeople who are not Christian can still celebrate Christian holidays, because even if you don't believe in the religious part of it, you can support the general idea. Christmas = a happy, joyous holiday. Celebrate that if you don't want to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Indeed, I am not Christian (I used to follow the Catholic faith, though) but I celebrate Christmas with my family.
Well I agree its too much. Even were I live, probably one of the less religious region in North America, were churches are demolished and bought to serve as appartments for students (the ones that still stand do so because of "protection of historical monument" laws), we still call a friggin' christmas tree a christmas tree. Anyways, its not like christmas really relates to religion now, we cannot just purge all religious influence on our traditions and our cultures.