Goodwill wanted
Toolbox
Published: December 28, 2009
he area's schools made the news this holiday season for dealing awkwardly with the question of whether to include Christmas festivities of some kind in their calendars.
A handful of schools around the state have banned symbols of the holiday pretty much completely, including two in Rutland County: Lothrop and Benson.
That's hard to do leading up to a 10-day "winter break" that just happens to coincide with Christmas every year, and strikes most onlookers as a little silly.
The Constitution guarantees that government institutions shall not promote one religion, but there's plenty of room to let children enjoy the run-up to Christmas without the schools promoting Christianity. And certainly when one considers that the framers had in mind a dispute not between Christianity and another religion but the state imposition of a specific Christian creed their recent ancestors had experience with in Europe, whether that be the Church of England, Catholicism or a given Protestant sect.
And some sort of holiday at winter solstice predates Christianity, particularly in the northern hemisphere, where the pagan calendar had such respect for the turning of the season that they built Stonehenge.
So it's hard to see where having a Christmas tree in the school, doing Santa-based activities in art class and singing about reindeer and snowmen is promoting a given faith. Most schools include a curriculum unit on comparative religions, so students are also exposed to at least a couple of other major observances, or perhaps a geography lesson that includes study of religious holidays.
Teaching the lesson of the child in the manger can and should remain in church and Christian homes.
What is not acceptable is using the holiday to remind religious minorities that they are somehow different. There's little chance of members of minorities, whether religious, ethnic or otherwise, forgetting anyway, particularly during a season awash in public reminders of the holiday.
"Most of us are Christian and you're not, so why don't you go away" isn't the Christmas message. It's not close to the Christmas message, but unfortunately, it's becoming the message in some parts of some communities.
It's hard to imagine what could bring someone to use the birth of Jesus as an excuse to harass Jews, but that seems to be what's happening in at least one case.
If the only way to counter that is to shut down Christmas observances for a time in those schools, so be it.
Peace on earth, goodwill toward all is more important than presents under a tree.
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