Yesterday at work I was overhearing one of my colleagues on the phone with a friend talk about her daughter's school. Apparently she was miffed because "Christmas landed at John Doe Elementary" right before Thanksgiving. There were Christmas themed bulletin boards in the hallways, a tree in the classroom, and in the school library, each kid was asked to bring in a white teddy bear. My colleagues daughter brought in a Chanukah bear, but took the Chanukah shirt off the bear because it was supposed to be non-denominational. What did they do with all these bears? They made a big tree of bears in the school library (some of whom apparently still had "Christian things" on them.). I was laughing to myself when my first thought while listening to her was "Thank goodness we don't have to deal with that at our school this year..."
We spoke further after she got off the phone. We were laughing as I told her my thought, and she said she had thought the same thing ("Well at least socKs doesn't have to deal with that at her kid's Jewish day school...") So we talked about it some more.
Apparently her issue is not with Christmas - she can admire the beauty of the season and the decorations as much as the next guy. Her issue is with the inequity in the displays and lack of sensitivity towards other religions. Apparently there is a child in her daughter's class who is a Jehovah's Witness. Therefore, the decision was made that there would be no birthday celebrations in the classroom out of respect for that student's beliefs. While it would have been difficult to not have any decorations in the entire school (and I would assume that Witnesses are so used to being around public displays of holiday decorations given that they are everywhere this time of year), perhaps the teachers could have at least not had a tree in the classroom. Her other issue was that there was no mention of Chanukah.
We talked about our past experiences with the holiday season, and what's going on this year. Neither of us are anti-public Christmas decorations. I don't expect every holiday display to include Chanukah stuff, although that would be nice - I'm pretty realistic. I love seeing the twinkle lights in the trees around the city. Our neighbor strung up lights in the huge pine tree (at least 14') that is in our community's common area between our homes. This is the first time anyone has done it - and to quote my kid: "Wow...that's beautiful!" I remember this neighbor saying the day he moved in: "I can't wait to put lights on that thing!" We will put our electric menorah in our kitchen window for the neighbors to see, just like we do every year.
This reminded me of the recent
seasonal display controversy at the Washington State Capitol. A national Atheist group went through the proper channels to get a sign displayed at the capitol reflecting their views of the holiday season. It was placed near the traditional Nativity scene. There was also a Christmas tree. In the past they have had a Chanukah menorah as well. Conservative Christian groups around the country have been calling in and expressing their outrage. I say three cheers to Washington State. Their official statement was: "The U.S. Supreme Court has been consistent and clear that, under the Constitution's First Amendment, once government admits one religious display or viewpoint onto public property, it may not discriminate against the content of other displays, including the viewpoints of nonbelievers."
Equality and representation for all - isn't that what our country is all about?
christmas
