Posted on 12/09/2006 7:45:53 PM PST by XR7
SEA-TAC Airport - All of the Christmas trees inside the terminal at Sea-Tac have been removed in response to a complaint by a rabbi.A local rabbi wanted to install an 8-foot menorah and have a public lighting ceremony. He threatened to sue if the menorah wasn’t put up, and gave a two-day deadline to remove the trees.
Sea-Tac public affairs manager Terri-Ann Betancourt said the trees that adorn the Sea-Tac upper and lower levels may not properly represent all cultures.
She said that since this is their busiest time of year and they don't have time to add a fair representation of all cultures, her department decided to take down all of the decorations, review their policies, and decide if they need to make a change for next year.
"You know, our focus is on customer service, getting our passengers through the airport, and we thought if we could take the trees down and avoid litigation because we don't want to littigate with this individual, we want to reach some kind of solution," Betancourt said. "But that is going to take some thoughtful discussion and we would like to have time to have that thoughtful discussion."
Until then, no Christmas decor at Sea-Tac.
The same decorations have been put up for at least 10 years, she added.
"What we have are holiday trees," she said. "If we are going to display symbols representing other cultures, we have to think what that means and what's respectful and what would make a good display. Maybe it would be 'Holidays of the World.'
"Or maybe it's snowmen."
Terri-Ann Betancourt , airport spokesman (spokeswoman, spokesms, whatever)
FYI, the reports I read, posted here on Freerepublic, quote the rabbi as being upset that the Christmas trees were taken down!!! In my experience,the Lubavitchers do NOT want to remove Christmas or any displays; they ask that their holidays be included. It was the STUPID airport management that took it upon themselves to remove the Christmas trees. The object of your displeasure should be the airport management, not the Lubavitchers.
PS--I'd like to remind everyone that (1) if there had been no Hanukah, there never would have been a Nativity. (Hanukah celebrates the defeat of an attempt to destroy the Jewish people which occurred about 125 years before Jesus was born. If the genocide attempt had been successful, no Messiah.) And (2) Jesus went to a Hanukah celebration at the Temple--read John 10:22. "Hanukah" means "dedication"; Jesus was present at the Feast of the Dedication--He was present at Hanukah.
He was just quoted on the radio and said "Hopefully, they will put the Christmas trees back up, and hopefully they will allow us to display the Menorah".
He left out the "or we'll sue your behind if you don't" part.
Unlike the deliberately provocative actions by those "flying Imams", a Hanukiah (Hanukah menorah) does honor the God of Israel and Bible-believers should rejoice at the rembrance of God's faithfulness. At least Hanukah is mentioned in the Bible, unlike Christmas tress.
thought you might want to see my comments at 102,104 on this thread.
This is the first year that I can remember at work, that the office is not decorated.
There used to be a big "holiday" tree in the lobby, and all the receptionists' desks trimmed with tinsel.
This year, nothing.
I keep telling myself it is because they have cut down on maintenance personnel and don't want to pay someone just to put up and take down decorations, but I know that a lot of people would be happy to decorate.
I remember from my days at GM, many years ago, they had a "holiday cubicle decorating contest."
Some of our good Jewish brethren need to take the Rabbi out behind the woodshed, get his attention with a two by four, and remind him that Christians aren't the enemy. It's the ragheads that are civilization's enemy.
quick. Someone complain about the lack of free beer in the airport.
Despite the protestations of misinformed Freepers, those are not Christmas Trees, which have a religious connotation, rather Holiday Trees, which have no connection to Christianity at all, rather somehow represent all faiths, presumably including Judaism.
That's a loss, hope they remembered to decorate for Haloween.
Maybe the Rabbi should have suggested a generic capital C candelabra for Sea-Tac rather than a Menorah.
Because he erroneously thought the Holiday Tree was a Christmas Tree, and asked for a Menorah to be displayed? It's hard to tell the difference between a generic, non-Christian Holiday Tree and a Christmas Tree.
Why is it that no one considers St. Valentine's Day to be exclusive? Or St. Patrick's Day parades? Then of course there's the biggest holiday in the universe, halloween!!! The government takes J- Witnesses' kids away from them for not celebrating that one! Why is it that other cultures so fanatically adopt all these other chr*stian holidays but single out one (and not even the biggest one at that)?
BTW, since different cultures have different calendars and celebrate the new year at different times, I demand that there be no publicly funded celebrations of the first of j*n*ary as "new year's day." I also demand that the people who celebrate this as the first day of the years keep it to themselves and not offend us quaint minorities. And if the same people who make a big fuss over the exclusivity of chr*stmas keep silent about that one, I'm going to be very disappointed.
"Everyone should have their spirit of the holiday. For many people the trees are the spirit of the holidays, and adding a menorah adds light to the season," said Bogomilsky, who works in Seattle at the regional headquarters for Chabad Lubavitch, a Jewish education foundation.
Of course the trees aren't a chr*stian symbol except by proxy (in fact, chr*stmas trees violate the commandment against ritual trees). But chr*stianity isn't under attack because it is false but merely because it is the religion of the majority. This in turn leads chr*stians to insist on and celebrate the traditions of their culture without examining them in light of G-d's Laws.
"They've darkened the hall instead of turning the lights up," said Bogomilsky's lawyer, Harvey Grad. "There is a concern here that the Jewish community will be portrayed as the Grinch."
There are sinister forces at work trying to destroy the alliance between Fundamentalist chr*stians and Orthodox Jews. These forces range across the spectrum from anti-Semitic chr*stians to liberal Jews to moslems. Remember that after december passes Fundamentalist chr*stians will have nothing else in common with liturgical chr*stianity.
It was still bad form for the rabbi to threaten to sue, methinks.
I'm not intending to sound critical of the rabbi, just pointing out that it was an unusual [as in 'infrequent']
request to display a menorah. I think a Star of David may have been more amenable, but now I'm just what-if'ing.
There are probably other factors we weren't made privy to. I am guessing there could be a large Muslim population and the airport people wanted to nip things in the bud...?
Already did....They just replied, "Oh crap, it's YOU AGAIN!"
Maybe it's infrequent only in the Northwest?? In the Philadelphia/New York area such displays are not unusual. In fact, I remember attending, several years ago, the lighting of such a menorah, put up by the Chabad, near the area of the Liberty Bell; the person in the "cherry-picker/crane" who lit the first "candle" of the 8 foot menorah was the mayor--Ed Rendell.
I'm confused by your statement. (1) While I know that a "Christimas tree"* really has nothing to do with the Nativity, it is now in this culture commonly associated with the celebration of the holiday/of the event. (2) No other religion* has any association with trees, living or dead, especially not at this time of year, and especially not Judaism. To claim the trees represented (or should) represent all the holidays at this time of year makes no sense. Conclusion--the trees do represent Christmas (a holiday of one religious group)to the majority of Americans; therefore, the rabbi was legitimately in his rights to request that his religious symbol be displayed as well.
*The only religion I can think of that has trees associated with it is Druidism, which is the historical source of this symbol, not anything in the Bible.
I always feel a little out of my skin with traditions I'm not familiar with. But I guess either Rendell is Jewish or the Jewish community had no problem with him lighting the menorah flame.
In San Antonio, the decoration outside our premier mall is giant cowboy boots with lighted stars in red and white. North Star Mall.
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