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Too much Christmas Education in my Public School
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Anonymous
The point is - to a non Christian, Christmas is a religious holiday. You may personally decide to celebrate it in a secular way, but the symbolism (including Santa and the tree) is likely religious. |
Anonymous
Christmas does mean something because it is a cultural tradition in the United States. That's why it is a federal holiday (while Easter is NOT a federal holiday). While some people celebrate the religious aspects of Christmas, many do not. We are not religious and have a Christmas tree, hang lights, have an elf that hides in our house, etc. If you don't allow kids to celebrate any reference to Christmas at schools the next step is to get rid of the following holidays at school: St. Valentine's Day- it originates from Christian martyrs (offensive to non-Christians) and emphasizes romantic relationships between a man and woman (might be offensive to some people) St.Patrick Day - obvious Christian holiday, why are we celebrating a Saint's Day? I don't care that there are fun leprechaun ideas, the origin is Christian Halloween - obviously offensive to some Christians Thanksgiving- obviously offensive to vegans and vegetarians. Why is my kid coloring a turkey at school when this holiday is about slaughtering an intelligent animal? |
Anonymous
Tell me where I'm getting it wrong. Christmas is a religious celebration. Christmas is a secular celebration. I think we both agree with those statements. Christmas, both secular and religious, is a cultural tradition that a majority culture in the US celebrates. I think we're still on the same page here. Christmas, secular and religious, is a cultural tradition that several minority cultures in the US don't celebrate. I think we're still on the same page. Because the US has many cultures, one culture's traditions shouldn't dominate and that requires special care when dealing with the cultural traditions of the majority because it can appear to be everywhere. Still on the same page? Because of religious sensitivity and our Constitutional requirement to not have state-sponsored religions, we need to be particularly careful if a religious tradition appears to be supported by our state institutions. So we will want to err on the side of a christmas tree on the statehouse lawn, and not a nativity. And we would want to include symbols from other traditions as well. Still on the same page? Santa in the US culture, religious and secular, is not a religious symbol except for perhaps a tiny minority who views him as representative of St. Nicholas. Elves in the US culture, religious and secular, are not a religious symbol. The nativity, in the US culture, religious and secular, is a religious symbol. I believe you disagree with those statements, and I'd really love for you to explain how elves are a Christian religious symbol. |
Anonymous
Ok. Get rid of them all. No harm done. |
Anonymous
I am not a Christian. I view Christmas as a secular holiday. Santa and the tree are not remotely religiously symbolic. |
Anonymous
Most non-Christians are smarter than you think they are. Not all, true. |
Anonymous
Look, I obviously know that Santa and Elves are not in the bible. I also know that they are intertwined with Christmas, which in turn is a religious holiday. There's a connection. From the perspective of a Jewish child, constant elves, Santa, and trees at school are absolutely exclusionary on the basis of her religion. |
Anonymous
I don't understand your insistence on making it all religious, to the point where you're willing to make statements that are just bizarre (like elves being religious symbols). Your statement would also be true if you made a minor change "From the perspective of a Jewish child, constant elves, Santa, and trees at school are absolutely exclusionary on the basis of her culture." Since, just in case you weren't aware, there are people who are culturally and not religiously Jewish. Christmas is overwhelming, especially to those who are not in the cultural majority. This should be treated more carefully than it is, especially considering OPs example. |
Anonymous
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I'm very sympathetic to OP's concerns about a Christmas full court press, but want to push back specifically on the idea that talking about the Nativity in Spanish class is problematic.
In fact, I'm wondering if OP's child is in a Spanish immersion school, which would change my impression of the post pretty dramatically. Even if we limit the discussion to Spanish class, though, I would honestly expect a language class to include a discussion of culture and holidays in the places where that language is spoken. For the case of the vast majority of Spanish-speaking places, no discussion of "December holidays" would be complete without a discussion of how people in those countries celebrate. |
Anonymous
Instead of the rudolf ornament, they could have made a snowman
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Anonymous
I mentioned something similar upthread, but I also suspect that if OPs child hadn't been inundated with Christmas crafts, learning about the cultural traditions in Spanish class wouldn't have been an issue. When everything is Christmas it's hard to separate that out as probably appropriate. |
Anonymous
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Perhaps we should not make a mountain out of a molehill.
Kids do crafts at school in Kindergarten. Elves predate Santa and are found in several old folklore tales made for children Give it up and find something else to fight about |
Anonymous
I KNOW elves are not a religious symbol in and of themselves. But they ARE a symbol of a religious holiday. I'm not sure what your cultural/religious point is -- it just seems to reinforce that Christmas is exclusionary. When people claim to be only culturally Jewish, that does not make Hannukah any less of a religious holiday. |
Anonymous
Find another winter symbol that does not also symbolize Christmas, then. A cheerful sun for the solstice? |
Anonymous
I am OP. This is it. Christmas crafts may seems secular to other Christians or others who do Christmas but don’t feel religious, but that’s not the case for many Jewish people and perhaps others,, not sure. Again, I am ok with Some this was overkill IMO. |