Seattle Press on Line - A Very P.C. Holiday

Teacher Ted

A Very P.C. Holiday

By Ted Lockery

Dec 20, 2001 -- This late in the season, chances are you've already attended a school "Winter Holiday" assembly or you've penciled one in on your kitchen calendar. Back in the day, when I was playing cornet in the school band, we didn't even hint at disguising the event as all-inclusive, or euphemistic. Everything we played rhymed with "Christmas." We wore red turtlenecks and Santa hats, the stage was covered with pine boughs and hollow Christmas presents, and my friends in the percussion section got to shake real sleigh bells on leather straps!

Sure, there was a token Menorah taped to the wall to recognize "our classmates who didn't celebrate Christmas," but it was clear whom the party was really for. A day later we all (Christians and non-Christians) went on "Christmas Vacation," not "Winter Break" as we do today. At bus time, teachers and students wished each other "Merry Christmas," not the "Happy Holidays" we have carefully come to know so well.

We sure have come a long way (thank goodness!). In many public schools the winter celebration of the Christian holiday now shares the stage with many who, for a shining moment, are not so much the "others," including Jews, Muslims, and those African-Americans who celebrate Kwanzaa. But is this enough? The list of those outside the majority religions who might also share the stage is longer than the stage is wide. And this list includes those who do not adhere to religious faith or believe in God.

How, then, can public schools celebrate religious holidays, both Christian and non-Christian, without excluding, ignoring, or offending the very pluralistic society schools are meant to affirm and to educate?

Personally, I don't think they can. Public schools can teach about religions, but once these schools celebrate religious holidays they cross the line of church and state separation. Inevitably, the celebration of religious holidays in schools projects the message of, at minimum, a tacit endorsement of particular religious faiths at the exclusion of others, including atheists, agnostics, and secular humanists. It's either all or nothing, and since non-belief in God contradicts belief in God, "all" is not achievable, even with a stage infinitely wide. Or is it?

If you were to ask the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) you might get a reply like the following excerpts from its excellent document, "The December Dilemma: Guidelines for Public Schools During the December Month," that I have organized into a handy, cut-and-file outline:

Holiday Decorations: If schools choose to recognize holidays through decorations, they should represent the diversity of the season and should avoid symbols with patently religious meanings to avoid sending the message to students that a religion or a particular denomination is preferred.
Holiday Assemblies: School-sponsored activities should...focus on more than one religion and religious holiday. Depicting a diversity of beliefs and customs is important to teaching public school students about religion and culture. It also helps ensure that public schools remain neutral and do not promote or denigrate any particular denomination or custom...It is also important to provide students the opportunity to choose not to participate in activities they find offensive to their religious sensibilities. [I would add, "non-religious sensibilities."]
Performing Religious Music: ...[S]chool choirs should not sing only religious music and should not focus on a particular holiday or denomination...Schools officials should allow public school children to be excused from singing religious music without fear of embarrassment or peer pressure.

Whether one is satisfied with the ADL's interpretation of the First Amendment or prefers one's own (I believe "In God We Trust" on our currency and "One Nation, Under God" in our Pledge of Allegiance are flagrant First Amendment violations), the "December Dilemma" is still alive and well.

During this holiday season, and the next, be vigilant. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire are a good thing, as long as we keep a clear firewall between religion and our public schools.

Happy...New Year!

Reader Comments

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annie	Dec 03, 2002	Midwest	mother and homeschool teacher
It's almost a year later, and I seem to be the first to offer comment. Thank You so much for your thoughtful focus on the fairness that we as citizens of a diverse world, and a country founded on the quest for personal choice in religion, need to to employ in our everyday lives. This season brings much turmoil for folks who don't subscribe to the "traditional" (read, "commercial" or "Christian") view of the "Reason for the Season". The darkest days of winter have long been brightened by the gathering, sharing and celebration of people who share life's trials as well as bounty, and this has been true all around the world. It is not any one religion's season of joy, and certainly cannot be one of generosity of spirit if we focus so narrowly as to deny the value and significance of others' views as well. Thank you again, and "Happy Holidays!" annie


Laura and Cindy	Dec 05, 2002	Hale	Your Students
Wow!! This is just what we need for our article. Your topic is nearly the same as ours. How come you never told us about this!!Well, we'll try to use some of the info. Thanks!!