OK, so we’re clouding the holiday with buzzwords like “civic” and “peace,” reasons why I, even as a non-Christian, celebrate Christmas. But Christmas is still a Christian holiday, so, should we have a national Christmas tree? Doesn’t this tacitly (or maybe not so) endorse Christianity as the “national religion?” I mean, where’s the national menorah, or the national Kwanzaa celebration, or the national Solstice festival? What do non-Christians think of the tree and/or the celebrations?
I’m not actually saying we should get rid of it, because I do think it’s a nice tradition, but it did get me to thinking, so, of course, I’m posting a thread about it.
Yikes, the hard-core atheist coming to the defense of Christian symbols!
The National Christmas Tree, is not an endorsement of an official religion under the “lemon test.” It has a secular purpose, it has a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion, it does not result in excessive governmental entanglement with religion. It’s a lovely symbol of peace in our nation’s capital and this weekend i’m going to hop the Metro and check it out.
While I am ordinarily a foursquare proponent of SOCAS, I think that having mangers, trees, menorahs, and whatever other holiday symbols on government property is OK.
Yes, it’s a low-level endorsement of Christianity, like “In God We Trust” on currency/coinage. If the proselytizers would settle for this stuff, it’d be fine with me.
Besides, worshiping conifers is an old pagan tradition. Dye yourself with woad, run naked around the tree, have a blast.
True, tree worship originated in pre-Christian Scandinavia and Germany, but when people look at a brightly-decorated Christmas tree, who do they think of first, Odin or Jesus?
Still, I have no problem with the Prez lighting a tree. It’s part of this country’s culture and traditions, and trying to seperate culture and traditions from religion is a futile task, if not a counter-productive one.
I suppose that what one thinks of in their mind when looking at a Christmas Tree depends entirely on their belief system.
FWIW, I just sent my (African American) foster child (YES, WE re white, she is black!) to school with a big batch of cookies for a Class “Christmas” party yesterday, with a personal note for the teacher, asking her why I was never asked to send cookies for a Qwanzah party, or for a Chaunnakah celebration. I’m sure that should give her something to ‘chew’ in the teacher’s lounge!!!
As a total hijack, just how many spellings do these holidays have anyway? There are three for Hannukah in my dictionary, which does not include the one posted above, and none for Kwaanza. Either way, I seem to see far more alternate spellings than just those listed in my Webster’s II.
The two you quoted are the alternate spellings usually referred to as “misspellings.” I believe the preferred spellings are Kwanzaa and Chanukah. (The initial letter, in Hebrew, of the latter is more akin to German “ch” or Greek chi than English “h.”)
I apologise for not spelling the above-mentioned Holidays correctly, (If infact, I misspelled it.) IIRC, Having worked in an Orthodox Jewish Nursing home for a period of time,
and consulting “The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions” (Yes, I have a copy of it in our study! DON’T ASK!) the correct spelling of said Jewish Feast is Hanukkah, and the African American Holiday is Kwaanza.
At any rate, we have deviated from the original thread.
My point was that I feel if we are trying to teach our children “equality”, that they should not be asked to celebrate “Christmas”, if they Celebrate another holiday.
Happy Holidays to Everyone!!!
(Whatever you Celebrate! )
Sassy
P.S. I’ll keep my own copy of “Websters” close by for my next post:)
I think the easiest way of looking at this is that the Christmas tree, while associated with a Christian holiday, is not mandated, required, etc. by the Christian religion. Since it is not a symbol of religion, it does not implicate the Establishment Clause.
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