My teenage boys went out tonight… eight of the ten were Jewish. They all came back with a photo of them with Santa. None that I can tell were traumatized.
This was as an official public school activity?
Christmas did exist before Christ, Christians just decided to steal the holiday for themselves. Well jokes on them because they had to give it back.
Nope, but 99.9% of Christians wouldn’t identify Santa as a Christian symbol other than the time of year. Just a jolly old fat guy in a stupid red suit who brings presents to put under the pine tree we for some reason dragged inside and decorated.
I have no problem if my kids are taken on a field trip to learn about Kwanzaa, Chanukah or any other holiday.
In response to the question about the poor kid who wrote a note to Santa and didn’t get a present due to their religion… buy the kid a gift you shnorrer. 
Just a pleasant aside from NPR:
'nuff said.
If you hadn’t said “other than the time of year,” I might have given you this. But no. Snowmen are associated with this time of year. Dreidels and menorahs are associated with this time of year. But Santa is a symbol of Christmas specifically, and Christmas is a Christian holiday.
Is the Easter Bunny a Christian symbol? Not directly. But the Easter Bunny is undeniably associated with Easter, and Easter is undeniably a Christian holiday, so the Easter Bunny has at least an association “once removed.” Similarly for Santa Claus.
Are you saying that Dreidels and Menorahs aren’t symbols of a specific religion who celebrates at this time of year?
I haven’t stepped a foot inside a church in years and I place as much of a Christian feel on this holiday as I do Valentines Day and the 4th of July. It is just a good time to have fun and celebrate.
My point is that some people seem to be upset that people recognize that a certain part of the population recognize this time as a special occasion.
The Jews just need a better marketing agency.
I’m with you; dreidels and menorahs are symbols of Hanukkah and Judaism, nothing else.
No one in this thread (or anywhere else) has said to stop/prevent/deter people from celebrating Christmas on their own time. It’s practically ubiquitous in our culture. What people are objecting to is celebrating religious holidays at public schools in a non-inclusive manner.
You ought to see how the girls dress up in the bars over here about this time of year. Pretty darned cute.
Okay, this thread is . . . surreal. I don’t think anyone is claiming Santa himself (oy, “himself”, like “he” is a real person) is a Christian symbol. Or reindeer, or holly, or any of the other trappings of the holiday. The point is, regardless of how much it’s been overtaken by commercialism, at it’s heart "CHRISTmas is based on an event that is significant to Christians only. I feel like we’re getting into semantics here. No one, (or at least I) is saying that all the traditons and such are Christian in and of themselves. I think many of us are in disbelief that anyone can say that one can separate the origins of Christmas ( meaning the ones reinvented by the church) from Christianity. Jews, Muslims, and the many “other” religions did not grow up believing/ worshiping the baby Jesus. We do not consider December 25th a sacred day. How will one say the mass (pun not intended) observance of this day - whether one actually spends one iota thinking about it’s ostencible meaning or not- isn’t religion based? I don’t think we need to fight about it but I feel like the frustration stems from a sincere WTF reaction to people who dismiss the feelings of people who are straight up saying “that isn’t how we, the people to whom it has no meaning” are saying.
You seemed to be saying that the only connection between Santa and Christianity was the time of year. I responded with examples of things that have just as much connection with the time of year but less connection with Christianity than does Santa Claus.
I am pretty sure that if you asked people what holiday Santa is associated with they would say Christmas, not the Winter Solstice or whatever secular holiday you claim to be celebrating. I also strongly feel that if asked why we celebrate Christmas, the majority of people would in fact mention somewhere in their answer something relating to Christianity and Jesus’ birth. Sure, people may not pay much attention to the religious aspects but they cannot be separated out. I have no problem with taking children on a field trip to learn about Christmas. Point out Santa and state that many children ask him for gifts but don’t make asking him for gifts part of the assignment. As far as telling people to just but them a gift already, I find that highly offensive. You are then forcing the parents to play along with religious traditions that they do not agree with.
I can’t help comparing it to this thread where Christian parents were all up in arms about their children copying a muslim phrase in calligraphy. In that case, however, the children were older and yet they still had to shut down the school. FWIW I have no problem teaching comparative religion. In fact, the more I think about it the more I realize that forcing children to celebrate the commercialization of the holiday bothers me more than anything. I’d rather have the meaning behind the holiday explained to children than have them participate in what so many here are admitting is in large part a secular tribute to commercialism.
Interesting example: would people here be OK with a field trip on Presidents’ day to the mall to demonstrate the sales to the children along with an assignment to find something they would like on sale and write a letter to their parents asking them to buy it because it is a good deal?
We gonna have to beg for pics?
They dress up here for pub crawls. The thing is, I imagine Thailand is a bit… warmer. It’s really funny seeing 21 (or “21”) year women wearing a “sexy Santa” costume in the snow.
Excellent example. Well done.
Here are some. (Is okay. Safe for work.) Samui Island, two years ago.
Yeah, to me it sort of seems silly because what’s the point of it, really? If they’re doing it in school, shouldn’t it have some educational value, even if it’s relatively small?
Thank you Sam, I’m in a holiday mood now!
Now, I’m writing Santa and requesting a trip to Samui Island for sometime around Easter hoping they appear in bunny costumes.