Posted on 12/06/2015 6:55:58 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
A guide to "inclusive" Christmas decorations created by Cornell University warns that any decorations that remotely evoke religion, which includes stars and mistletoe, are incompatible with the school's commitment to diversity.
The guidelines are buried inside a Cornell publication concerning fire safety guidelines for holiday decorations, and were first noticed by the website Campus Reform. The first half of the document concerns certain banned fire hazards, such as candles and metallic Christmas trees.
The second half of the document, though, veers off into a discussion of how to make the Christmas season more "inclusive."
"University members are reminded to be respectful of the religious diversity of our students and colleagues and are encouraged to use an inclusive approach in celebrating the holiday season," the document says. Students are encouraged to be more "diverse" by either focusing on winter instead of Christmas or by including decorations for multiple holidays alongside secular decorations.
The university then rattles off a list of decorations that are "NOT consistent" with the school's "commitment to diversity and inclusiveness." The discouraged decorations include the following:
-Nativity scenes
-Menorahs
-Angels
-Mistletoe
-Stars (when placed on top of trees)
-Crosses
-Stars of David
While the religious connotations of nativity scenes or Stars of David is rather obvious, it's not clear why mistletoe is considered as possibly offensive.
The school says that holly, Santa Clauses, and wreaths might be acceptable decorations, but only after "dialogue within [a] living unit or area" to ensure nobody is offended.
Universities around the country have been issuing Christmas guidelines aimed at discouraging the display of religious symbols. A recent guidance email at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, for instance, warned against letting holiday parties become "Christmas parties in disguise" and discouraged using terms such as "Secret Santa" because they could offend people.
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They are not nuts. They don’t want gays kissing other gays in public.
Come one. Come all!
You are all invited to my dorm room Christmas party where you can either worship the birth of our Lord Jseus or you can kindly kiss my ass and GTFO.
Still trying to figure out how excluding things becomes more inclusive.
Someone at Cornell never got kissed under the mistletoe, obviously.
To sum it up:
You must be tolerant of all other cultures and abandon your own culture.
Tolerance is a two way street.
One way tolerance is tyranny and that is what we currently have.
Twits don't realize that 99% of what the push for is not inclusive and should therefore be scrapped.
So is the kwanza menorah with the black center candle lumped in with the hannukah menorah or is it ok ?
“Inclusive” is genocide.
Precisely correct. Plus you can bet that many of the faculty of Cornell (among other nominally ‘elite’ universities) think of themselves as superior to the faculty from less ‘prestigious’ universities. They are mired in pedigree, and this is about as ‘exclusive’ as you can be. It's just more hypocrisy from people too ignorant to know that they are ignorant. Ignorance and being credentialed in ‘higher education’ are not mutually exclusive - by any means.
Glad I went to Georgia Southern and not Cornell.
But that's just the beginning of my Airing of Grievances.
Here is the deal: you can worship Baal for all I care. Sacrifice your chickens and goats.
I will worship my God. I will put with a nativity science and hang lights on my shrub.
When we go out to get the paper in the morning we will give each other a wave and bitch about taxes.
THAT is America. That is why we are exceptional.
Only if it lights up.
“Excluding things is inclusive. Got it.”
Right. Just like intolerance is intolerant. Liberalism is a mental disorder. If you didn’t bring enough candy for everybody to have some, then you can’t have any either.
Apparently Cornell is staffed by angry lesbians who once stood under mistletoe and didn’t find any takers.
There's something weird about banning things in order to be "inclusive," isn't there?
Actually, it could be not only included but virtually required if a little creative thinking is used.
Mistletoe is among the plants that is toxic to eat. As a Cornell professor, I know that our toxic plants collections and exhibits have a very long tradition are actually quite famous. They are used as student teaching tools. We have courses in several colleges that cover toxic plants.
Simple solution. Mistletoe can be displayed as a content-rich educational exhibit that supports our approved toxicology and and biomedical sciences courses.
Do it for the students.
Winter Holiday Displays/Decorations that are Consistent with Cornell’s Commitment to Diversity and the University Assembly Guidelines:
• Snowflakes
• Trees (in accordance with Fire Safety Guidelines) decorated with snowflakes and other non-religious
symbols
Snowflakes. Figures.
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