By Kelly Boggs, Editor Louisiana Baptist Message
Public expressions of Christmas in America – as in the commemoration of Christ’s birth, not the “I’m dreaming of a white …” or “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire …” variety – have become increasingly controversial.
Schools and other government venues have taken a dim view of any representation that calls attention to the reason for the season – Jesus Christ.
The environment at one West Coast elementary school was such that a mother wrote in a local newspaper that her son, reared in a Christian environment, felt guilty about celebrating Christmas.
A school district in California recently not only banned the use of the word “Christmas” by teachers, officials also made it taboo for instructors to wear any jewelry with a Christmas theme.
In Tillamook, Ore. – a coastal community known throughout the Northwest for its cheese and ice cream – city officials once ordered the removal of a lighted nativity display from a drive-up coffee kiosk. The reason – the business property was leased out by the city.
The city manager told a local newspaper that he acted on a citizen’s complaint concerning the religious display.
It is not only the loony left coast that has become hostile to Christmas. Many school districts throughout the country no longer refer to the time off during this season as the “Christmas break.”
It is now known as the “winter break” or the “holiday break.” Not too long ago a middle school in New Jersey even canceled a field trip to see the play “A Christmas Carol,” presumably because it had the word “Christmas” in the title.
In many parts of America, a tall woody plant adorned with ornaments is now known as a “holiday tree” rather than a Christmas tree.
Currently, Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee refuses to call the decorated 17-foot spruce tree in the center of capitol rotunda a Christmas tree. The governor says by dubbing it a “holiday tree” he is honoring Rhode Island’s founding as a haven for diverse religions.
Enough with the lunacy already! We live in a society that is religiously plural. Therefore, it behooves all of us – public officials included – to adopt an accommodation of all religious expression, and that includes Christianity.
Unless you choose a monastic way of life and cloister yourself away from society, you will encounter people with religious beliefs different from yours. Deal with it!
I have no problem recognizing and respecting an individual’s right to believe – or not to believe, as the case maybe – and practice his or her religion of choice. At the same time I have every right to express my religion and even declare why I don’t believe the way someone else does.
I spent several years living in a region of the country where Christianity was not the dominant faith. On forms that have a box asking a person to indicate religious preference, the majority dwelling in the Pacific Northwest check “no thanks.”
When we lived in the aforementioned cultural climate, my wife and I constantly instructed our children that people choose to embrace different belief systems.
At the same time we made it clear that as for our family, we would serve who we believe to be the only true God: Jesus Christ.
I understand that public schools and/or city halls are not designed to be religious training centers. However, accommodating religious expression, especially during major religious holidays, is not only appropriate; in a pluralistic society it is right.
Teachers and students should be allowed to express themselves. If it is not your particular season, simply know that many people choose to believe differently from you and in America they have a right to express their faith.
If that offends you, then be offended.
The Constitution states clearly that “Congress shall make NO LAW respecting an establishment of religion, or PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE thereof ….” (emphasis mine). This “free exercise” includes Christianity and Christmas.
I wish you a merry, meaningful and Christ-filled Christmas!