Posted on 12/06/2004 5:50:24 AM PST by Land_of_Lincoln_John
When children who attend the McHenry County school gathered in the gym last week to brighten friends and parents with holiday cheer, they sang of lighting candles for Hanukkah, gave their rendition of a Jamaican folk song and even did their lists for Santa.
But their songs never mentioned Christ or the Christmas story--an omission that drew swift criticism from Christian groups pushing public schools to remember the meaning of Christmas.
"The reason for the season is Christmas," said Dave Smith, senior policy analyst for the Illinois Family Institute, a Christian organization. "At least some equal time would have been nice."
Officials at Spring Grove Elementary School said they were just trying to be more inclusive of all holiday traditions and cultures during concerts Wednesday and Thursday nights. Any overlooking of Christ and Christmas was inadvertent, they said.
"There wasn't anything to slight anybody," Principal John Druszczak said.
But a parent apparently disagreed and contacted the Illinois Family Institute about the holiday programs presented by the McHenry County elementary school, Smith said.
Smith put her in touch with Chicago lawyer Andy Norman, who said Friday that he has been involved in a nationwide fight to "save Christmas from" the American Civil Liberties Union.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
>>>>>>>>So all is not completely lost, but I do think both religions are under attack.<<<<<<<<<<
There is no evidence that Judaism is "under attack" in December in North America. In fact, the past decades have seen the elevation of a minor Jewish holiday, Hanukkah, to the point where it is now treated as an equal of the major holiday of Western civilization for the past millenium, Christmas. The elevation of Hanukkah is a major reason the public celebration of Christmas is in decline, as increased public recognition of Hanukkah has paved the way for increased public recognition of Kwanza, Diwali, and all the rest--all at the expense of Christmas.
It has reached the point where a friend's son was reprimaned for referring to the decorated tree in his classroom as a "Christmas tree" rather than a "holiday tree," and some of his classmates thought he was "anti-Semitic" because he called the Christmas tree by its right name, and not by the preferred, made up PC name.
There is no need to resort to religious belief to deal with this in the schools, by the way. We could instead adopt this bright line rule: equal treatment for all winter holidays that have music written for them by Johann Sebastian Bach.
BTTT!
Well, I think I showed in my post that one can't have a "holy" day without a holy God.
No, you cannot... But you can have a "holi" day.
enough. let the joke be on the morons, like it always is.
Your right, where are my glasses.
Christian Parents must ban together and demand their religious rights garunteed under the Constitution, after all it was based on Judeo Christian laws and beliefs. The Majority RULES in our Constitutional Republic, we must TOLERATE the minority.
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