State of Protest

Is banning the terms “Christmas” and “Easter” by a state-funded college an act of intolerance, tolerance, mere secularity, or just good sense?

Although the following took place in a UK college, I can see the stink it would cause just about anywhere, especially when reported with a facetious slant — the college didn’t “Ban Christmas,” it merely renamed the official time off for students. Here’s an excerpt:

CHRISTMAS BANNED BY PC COLLEGE CHIEFS … CHRISTMAS and Easter have been scrubbed from a college’s calendars in case they offend non-Christians. Holidays at these times will now be referred to simply as “end of term breaks”. The move will “increase inclusion and diversity”, claim bosses at Yorkshire Coast College in Scarborough, North Yorks. ¹

Commenters to the article generally spewed hateful rhetoric about how England is a Christian nation, and that it’s being taken over slowly, bit by bit, and that the religious needed to fight back. Other commenters noted that the policy was not to satiate non-Christians, but, instead, Muslims and other minority religious groups. And still another commenter blamed the misunderstanding as an intentional media hype by the newspaper (the same newspaper that misleadingly headlined that Russia threatened Poland with nuclear strike).

Considering that, yet again, we embark upon the Fall journey to that winter time period where we seek vacation time from work, familial reunion, and, often, gift exchange, and, yet again, we roll our eyes at the anticipated onslaught of argument regarding whether it’s appropriate on any calendar to name this time period after a very specific religious icon, what do we think about various institutions trying to edit such references from their calendars?

And, can we really fully escape references? Some have said, just call it “holiday!” That would work for some, but would knowing that the origin of the word is “holy” which has its origin in “holly,” a plant worshiped by pagans in ritual? Religious! After perusing the thesaurus to try to find some non-offensive, unbiased word to pin on a few days off, consider to what extent such purging of all religious reference is necessary in order to accomplish the “goal.” The goal? I think most rationals would agree that the goal is to create and maintain a truly secular government and public that doesn’t infringe upon the ability of people to practice the religious rituals of choice as long as that practice does not infringe upon the ability of people not to practice that religion, another religion, or no religion.

In addition, from a governmental point of view, religious reference or preference should not even create an image of impropriety, regardless of actual impact. For example, “In God We Trust” on currency creates an image of impropriety (specifically an indication that the government accepts and trusts in a single deity), regardless of whether it actually impedes my ability not to have to believe in that same deity or follow the rituals of those who believe in that deity.

So, if I had to get my passport from “The United States of Christian America Mother Mary Holy Church of International Relations,” no matter how adamant the government was about how that branch of the government was regulated to treat everyone, including non-believers, equally, I’d have a pretty good reason to distrust that assertion. But is there a true gray area, where it’s not so bad for a public school to keep “Christmas” on the calendar, considering it’s been used so widely by Americans for so many years? I wonder, would it offend me if my job had “Christmas holiday” on its calendar? Up to a few years ago, it did. I doubt very seriously that it was changed because of complaints from atheists. It switched to “firm holiday.”

I think the commenter to the above article who blamed this trend on Muslims and other non-Christian faiths was probably correct. Christianity is no longer the only bully on the block, as it were, and we’re in a transition period where the new bully has distracted the old bully from beating up on the little atheist kid. We’re in a period of change, but to what end?

Back to drawing the line: should we purge all reference to any spirituality from all government and public products, or should we allow a bit of slack for tradition, culture, etc., with some agreeable guidelines as to what goes too far? If you’re an atheist, would “holiday” offend you on your work or school calendar? What alternative suggestions do you have for such days off?

And, ultimately, do you think that by purging the calendar of all religious and spiritual references, we run the risk of losing those “holidays”?

1. CHRISTMAS BANNED BY PC COLLEGE CHIEFS, Daily Express. http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/61630/Christmas-banned-by-pc-college-chiefs [<]

Tags: Adam, America, atheist, ban, banning, Christ, Christianity, church, deity, England, faith, god, Government, holiday, Holy, Muslim, pagan, rational, Religion, Russia, school, secular, spirit, theist, tolerance, UK, United States

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 at 3:26 pm and is filed under Atheism, Government, Morality, Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.