holiday double standards

[Backroads]

So the other week I was setting up my classroom calender for December. The calendar set comes with a cutesy card for about every holiday connected remotely to the western hemisphere aand since I have them, by golly, they're going up. The religious ones are obviously religious. They go up without a thought. Christmas gives me two options: a Manger or a wreath. I put up the wreath because it's what you do.

Why is it "wrong" to put up a Manger but okay to put up religious cards for other holidays?

[PolarVortex]

Why do you say it's wrong?  I don't think it is.  Mangers for Christmas are good.  Certainly better than jack-o-lanterns.

 

Now, it is true that some people might be offended by a manger on your cutesy December 25 card even though the cards for other religious holidays have religious pictures.  Maybe that's because some people are angry that Christmas is a U.S. holiday and no other religious holiday is.  Their way of processing this anger is to find some other way to diminish Christmas and put it in its place, darn it, even if it's a double standard of the type you describe.

 

If your calendar were limited to federal holidays, the wreath might be better.  If other religious holidays are strutting their stuff on your calendar, then I don't see any manger danger. 

[Backroads]

I suppose I consider the most vocal drama is against Christian displays.

[Iggy]

Backroads, you could incorporate this story http://christcenteredtraditions.blogspot.com/2008/11/christmas-symbols-story.html  into your calendar. 

[PolarVortex]

I suppose I consider the most vocal drama is against Christian displays.

 

That's certainly been my experience.  In government and public schools I do think it's wrong to present Christianity as special or superior to other religions, but if all religions are being discussed or presented fairly then it's just as wrong to fling a cloak of invisibility over Christianity just because some people aren't Christian.

[Backroads]

I think the vast majority of my kids are Catholic or LDS.

[Bini]

I think most Christian organisations appreciate the manger sentiment. I would guess that it would be non-Christians that would prefer seeing a wreath hung up instead. Understandable, we all come from different backgrounds and cultures. I think being sensitive to these differences, as you are Backroads, is for the better.

[Backroads]

Thanks, Bini. Yet why are those offended by Christmas not offended by other holidays?

[Bini]

Thanks, Bini. Yet why are those offended by Christmas not offended by other holidays?

I think it's because other holidays aren't focused on Christ and His message like Christmas does, so for those that don't believe in Christ, it can be a bit of an annoyance or even just outright offensive. I know that there's a lot of people that don't consider themselves Christian, and yet, they participate in the commercial aspect of Christmas which is gift buying and gift giving. I think people are fine with that but when Christ is reeled into the picture, it can be off-putting. Like Halloween, for example, it was originally a Pagan thing, right? But nobody emphasises on that - it's solely become a commercial event of buying candy and eating candy. I think if it suddenly took on an undertone of it's origin mainstream, there'd be a lot of people upset by it, and would want it to remain the tradition of just trick-o-treating.

[Vort]

I think it's because other holidays aren't focused on Christ and His message like Christmas does, so for those that don't believe in Christ, it can be a bit of an annoyance or even just outright offensive. I know that there's a lot of people that don't consider themselves Christian, and yet, they participate in the commercial aspect of Christmas which is gift buying and gift giving. I think people are fine with that but when Christ is reeled into the picture, it can be off-putting. Like Halloween, for example, it was originally a Pagan thing, right? But nobody emphasises on that - it's solely become a commercial event of buying candy and eating candy. I think if it suddenly took on an undertone of it's origin mainstream, there'd be a lot of people upset by it, and would want it to remain the tradition of just trick-o-treating.

 

Halloween is "All Hallows Eve", the day before All Saints Day (or Hallowmas), a Catholic holiday honoring all of the Saints known and unknown, especially those who don't have their own day one of the other 365 days of the year.

 

It has long been noted that true murdered martyrs* were killed, not for the doctrine they preached, but for their testimonies. Stephen was slain, not because he preached heresies, but because he had the temerity to say "I see God and the son of Man standing on his right hand." Jesus himself was slain because he bore divine witness of himself, of his mission, of redemption, and of the coming scouring of wicked Israel. The doctrines he taught were by and large not competely new; rather, his method of teaching was radical, not making endless appeals to scriptural interpretations as the scribes did to establish their teachings, but instead preaching as one who had authority in himself.

 

Jesus promised his followers that their testimonies would be just as welcome in the world as was his, and that they could expect similar treatment. He promised death to his apostles for heeding him; eleven of the twelve welcomed the chance.

 

*Our modern usage of "martyr" requires that they be killed for the cause, so "murdered martyr" sounds like a redundancy. But the original meaning of "martyr" was simply "witness"; specifically, someone who refuses to back down from his witness in the face of persecution. Death was not originally a necessary precondition to be identified as a martyr.

[Backroads]

Yet my calendar has all sorts of religious holidays. Why aren't people offended by their blatant religiosity? I find it hypocritical to pick and choose religious holidays to be offended by.

[Bini]

Vort, thank you.

 

Backroads, you're free to feel the way you do. That's part of the tolerance thing we're always talking about. People are human, their beliefs and mindsets don't always make sense in comparison to our own, but it is what it is. How we react is what is important.