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 | Tension between religious and political traditions. |
| Tension between religious exclusivism and inclusivism, aggravated by an increase in religious diversity. |
Conflict between religious tradition vs. political tradition:
The problem:
| Christmas time has long been a time of singing Christmas carols, and displays of manger scenes. Many traditionalists would like to see students taught Christmas carols and the Christmas story from the Bible in public schools. They would like to see crèches on display on municipal land. Any restrictions may be regarded as infringement on their religious freedom to live in a country that is predominately Christian and that emphasizes that religion in commerce, school, municipal displays, etc. As columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. of the Washington Post commented: "Some Christians see the broader culture as unremittingly hostile to their faith and wonder why it's easier to celebrate Santa, Rudolph and the Grinch than to sing praise to Jesus, Mary and Joseph. 1 |
| One of the founding principles of the U.S. is the principle of separation of church and state. This means that governments and public schools cannot promote one religion over another, or a religious lifestyle over a secular lifestyle, or a secular lifestyle over a religious lifestyle. This means that there are restrictions on the teaching of religious songs in public schools or the display of religious scenes in on government land. Some analysts suggest that this principle is the main reason why the U.S. and Canada have been able to avoid most of the religiously motivated conflict and bloodshed seen elsewhere in the world, in spite of the very diverse religious makeup of both countries. |
The solution for public school conflicts:
There are two obvious solutions:
| Teach the religious beliefs associated with Christmas as truth, and create a Christian-only crèche on municipal land and await a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union. |
| Conform to the law and avoid legal expenses. |
Representatives of many groups representing the full range of liberal and conservative religious and civil rights organizations drafted a statement in 1995 titled: "Religion in the Public Schools: A Joint Statement of Current Law." More recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts have reinforced their interpretation. However, with the recent addition of strict constructionists to the Supreme Court, the rules may change radically in the near future.
The statement said, in part:
The Constitution permits much private religious activity in and about the public schools. Unfortunately, this aspect of constitutional law is not as well known as it should be. Some say that the Supreme Court has declared the public schools 'religion-free zones' or that the law is so murky that school officials cannot know what is legally permissible. The former claim is simply wrong. And as to the latter, while there are some difficult issues, much has been settled. It is also unfortunately true that public school officials, due to their busy schedules, may not be as fully aware of this as they could be. As a result, in some school districts some of these rights are not being observed." 2
Under the topic of: "Religious Holidays" they wrote:
"14. Generally, public schools may teach about religious holidays, and may celebrate the secular aspects of the holidays, and objectively teach about their religious aspects. They may not observe the holidays as religious events. Schools should generally excuse students who do not wish to participate in holiday events. 2
"...a broad spectrum of religious and civil liberties groups" published a pamphlet titled: "Religious Holidays in the Public schools: Questions and Answers." On the topic of Christmas, it says:
"Decisions about what to do in December should begin with the understanding that public schools may not sponsor religious devotions or celebrations; study about religious holidays does not extend to religious worship or practice. Does this mean that all seasonal activities must be banned from the schools? Probably not, and in any event such an effort would be unrealistic. The resolution would seem to lie in devising holiday programs that serve an educational purpose for all students--programs that make no students feel excluded or identified with a religion not their own. Holiday concerts in December may appropriately include music related to Christmas and Hanukkah, but religious music should not dominate. Any dramatic productions should emphasize the cultural aspects of the holidays. Nativity pageants or plays portraying the Hanukkah miracle are not appropriate in the public school setting. In short, while recognizing the holiday season, none of the school activities in December should have the purpose, or effect, of promoting or inhibiting religion." 3
The solution for municipal displays:
Again, there are two obvious solutions:
| Install a manger scene by itself on public land and await a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union. |
| Conform to the law and avoid legal expenses. |
"In general, the courts have allowed either all religions or none to be practiced on public property. Once Christmas, Hanukkah or other religious holiday displays are allowed in city halls and town squares, all religions must be afforded similar access." 4 To avoid the appearance of promoting religion over secularism, it might be wise for the municipality to create cultural displays at Christmas time by adding secular themes to any religious presentations. Some courts have used the "three reindeer" rule: that a cultural display containing some religious themes and at least three secular symbols is constitutional.
Conflict between religious exclusivism vs. religious inclusivism:
| Some folks feel that only one religion, Christianity, and only one holy day, Christmas, should be acknowledged at this time of year. They want retailers and the general public to wish each other "Merry Christmas." Some groups feel so strongly that they are mounting economic boycotts of business who do not conform. |
| Others feel that there many secular and religious celebrations at this
time of year, and that all are important. They would prefer that retailers
and the pubic discontinue the religiously exclusive "Merry Christmas"
and wish each other an inclusive greeting like "Happy Holidays."
As columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. |
The basic question here is whether Yeshua of Nazareth (a.k.a. Jesus Christ) should be considered the reason for the season, or a reason for the season.
The root cause of the conflict is the increase both of secularism and religious diversity. Both the U.S. and Canada are experiencing rapid religious change. The percentage of adults who identify themselves as Christians is steadily dropping, by just under 1 percentage point per year in both countries. The percentage of adults who follow other religions, or who are non-religious, is increasing at the same rate. Protestants are believed to have become a minority in the U.S. by late 2006. If the rate of decline of Christian affiliation in the U.S. continues at its present rate, Christians themselves will become a minority by the 2030s.
Among the six largest religions 5 followed by visitors to this web site:
| Christians celebrate Christmas on DEC-25 as Jesus' birthday. |
| Wiccans and many other Neopagans, celebrate Yule, about DEC-21. |
| Jews observe Hanukkah, an eight day Feast of Lights, commemorating a fight for religious freedom. The date varies each year. |
| Muslims observed the holy lunar month of Ramadan in the early years of this century which commemorated the gift of the Qur'an to humanity. Between 2006 and 2008, they will celebrate Id al-Adha (a.k.a. the Feast of Sacrifice or Day of Sacrifice). |
| Many secularists, Agnostics, and Atheists, etc. celebrate the Winter Solstice, about DEC-21. |
There appear to be two religious/cultural movements in North America pushing in opposite directions: one towards exclusivity; the other towards diversity. Some folks in the U.S. and Canada -- primarily from conservative denominations -- want to retain the end of December for the exclusive celebration of Christmas. They would like to exclude recognition of other religious and secular holidays at this time of year. The years 2004 and 2005 saw economic boycotts of stores that use the generic term "Happy Holidays" in place of "Merry Christmas." This may represent the wave of the future. It is driven by a desire to preserve both religion and culture unchanged, in spite of religious and social trends towards diversity. Other North Americans would like to make room for the followers of other religions and secularists who assign different meanings to this time of year. They would like December to become a celebration of religious and spiritual diversity -- where the traditions of many different religions and cultures are enjoyed.
Some Christians react negatively to any move towards religious inclusiveness, by giving it the ultimate condemnation: "political correctness." Other Christians, many secularists, and many members of non-Christian religions view religious inclusiveness to be required by the Ethic of Reciprocity -- often called the Golden Rule. This is an integral part of almost almost all religions' moral systems.
Conflict is inevitable.
| It was particularly intense in 2004, perhaps because of the political gains made by Evangelical Christians in the 2004-NOV elections. |
| The religious wars continued in 2005, perhaps influenced by an unusual event: Christmas, the first days of Hanukkah and the beginning of Kwanzaa all fall on DEC-25. A lot of anger was created by conservative Christian boycotts of some stores. |
| The conflict appears to be just as strong in 2006. The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a fundamentalist Christian legal defense group, announced that it has over 950 attorneys available across the U.S. poised to combat any censorship of Christmas celebrations in schools and on public property. 6 |
References used:
- E.J. Dionne Jr., "Peace on Earth? Not with this season's Christmas wars," Washington Post, 2004-NOV-21, at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
- "Religion in the Public Schools: A Joint Statement of Current Law," Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, 1995-APR, at: http://www.bjcpa.org/
- "Religious Holidays in the Public Schools: Questions and Answers," Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
- Clarence Page, "Bewitching logic: All religions or none should be tolerated on military bases," Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, UT, 1999-JUN-17. See: http://www.sltrib.com/
- On this web site, we define the term "religion" very broadly to include every belief system from Agnosticism to Zoroastrianism.
- "More than 950 attorneys nationwide ready to combat attempts to censor Christmas. Fourth annual Christmas Project declares, 'Merry Christmas. It's okay to say it'," Alliance Defense Fund, 2006-NOV-15, at: http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/
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Copyright © 2005 and 2006 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally posted: 2005-DEC-18
Latest update: 2006-NOV-19
Author: B.A. Robinson
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