Menorahs and Mangers, that's what I want to see in prominent places, in front of important buildings, at Christmas/Hannukka time.
I don't want to see Christmas trees and menorahs - menorahs are religious; Christmas trees are festive, but only tangentially religious (if you put an angel or a Star of Bethlhem on top, which they never do).
I don't want to see Santa and Rudolph and menorahs. Menorahs are religious. Santa, well, there WAS a Saint Nicolas, but the jolly man in the red suit with flying reindeer is not a religious symbol. (It's sad, because properly understood, Santa Claus WAS a religious symbol, of the spirit of Christian giving and love for children, especially.) There's nothing WRONG with Santa Claus, but he's an artifact of the season, and a commercialized one at that. A menorah is industrial-strength religion. So is a Manger.
I want to see Menorahs and Mangers. If there is a Menorah, I want to see a Manger, except in front of a Temple, obviously. If there's a Manger, a Menorah is fine (even in front of a Christian Church - Christians have the theological right to claim all of the Jewish holidays, although only a few do). This is America, and we're not all Christian, and this IS Hannukka season too.
I do NOT want to see a Muslim crescent. This is not Ramadan. This season has NO Muslim significance at all, and never did. I do not want to see the DILUTION of Christmas (and Hannukka) by the INCLUSION of crescent moons. It's inappropriate.
And I don't want to see funky Kwaanza-anythings. Kwaanza is as made-up as Rudolph the Red-Nosed-Reindeer, but not even half as old. It's not real, and I don't want to see it represented as though it is.
All of this is highly intolerant on my part, but then, I am a fan of democracy. 80% of us are Christians (95% of us celebrate Christmas). Let's celebrate our democracy a bit by CHOOSING to be a bit intolerant during OUR season. But let's choose to be tolerant of Jews, because there's a legitimate Jewish holiday during this time of the year for Jews, and we've beaten up on Jews enough over the course of our history that it's right to make a nod there. Anyway, Jesus and Mary and Joseph were Jews, and they'd no doubt approve, and seeing the two symbols juxtaposed gets you thinking about the issues that separate them, and makes you think about who's wrong and who's right, ultimately. That's not a bad thing to do.
But Crescents and Kwanzaa and any other damned impose-it-because-they're-sensitive symbol? No. Let's draw the line. Let's remind everybody of democratic power - that we CAN vote to be a little bit insensitive in order to celebrate OUR holiday without mucking it up with extraneous and inappropriate crap.
I see your point but since when do December "holiday" trees in America represent anything other than Christmas. Do people think a menorah represents anything other than Hanukah? Unfortunately it's very telling that many posts are using bigotry to complain about anti-Christian bigotry. This rabbi is pro-Jewish not anti-Christian. People should focus on the reason he did this. His goal was never to remove the Christmas trees but rather to have equal representation - something, I thought, we all stood for. Maybe not.
I'm with you. When does your revolution start? Ping me when it's time! I'm in 100%!!
"Christmas" became your season after the Catholic Church realized that they couldn't fight the pagan rituals that the people clung to. I'm more than happy to share this time of the year with Christians who want to borrow from those traditions. Just don't claim them as yours only. Thank you!
I love it! Thanks