Christmas and Chanukah

[cellio]

Two takes on multiculturalism and December holidays, both written by liberal Jews, with rather different stances: one from JBCs (Jews by Choice) and one from the Velveteen Rabbi. I myself tend more toward the former; when we try to combine holidays with the goal of better interfaith relations, I think we weaken both. Christmas is the second most important day on the Christian calendar; it should be important and solemn for those who believe, and not be treated as somehow equivalent to a minor Jewish holiday commemorating, of all things, a victory over assimilation. (Think about that irony for a minute.) If I find myself in the midst of Christian affirmation, which to me includes everything from a mass down to singing Handel's Messiah, they should do their thing and I should withdraw [1]. We shouldn't have to compromise on "Frosty the Snowman" or a theme of light in the darkest days of winter.

Cross-religion education is a good thing, and I think most people would welcome serious inquiries from people of different faiths if they want to know more (or even attend services or other rituals). I've certainly participated on both sides of that and seen no problems. But I think we should remember that our religions are separate; they have different emphases and that's ok. We don't have to agree, and we don't have to try to build a lowest common denominator.

To my Christian friends, I wish you the best in your season of holiness now under way, as I know you wish similar things for me during the high holy days and at other times. I'm not offended by your observance of your religion; you don't need to water it down. Besides, the dreidel song is really insipid; please don't feel obligated on my account.

(Mind, I would have a different reaction to celebrations in a setting that's supposed to be neutral, like a public school or a place of (secular) employment. But that's not what I'm talking about here.)

[1] Some do not see a problem with things like singing Messiah. We all draw the "worship" line in different places.

Comments

[ealdthryth.livejournal.com]

We were having a discussion today at work about holiday decorations. We aren't allowed to have any Christmas decorations. I think that's a good thing seeing as we are a taxpayer funded institution. At least one of my coworkers is irked that we can't have Christmas decorations, claiming that most of the country is Christian and this is a Christian holiday. I can sort of see her point, but I think it is misplaced in a library. We can do a lot with seasonal decorations for winter without addressing any religious holiday.

[cellio]

I think for a publicly-funded library a no-decorations rule is the right call -- not so much because of an appearance of endorsement, though that's part of it, but because you're there to serve all of the public, and some of them would be uncomfortable if greeted by a life-size nativity scene at the entrance, even if you also had a chanukiyah on the counter.

Your coworker's thinking is not unusual; lots of people seem to equate "most of us are X" with "this is an X country". I worry about this a lot more in politics than in decoration policies, mind, but it's a common attitude. I'm sick of hearing "this is a Christian country" (and therefore the following laws are appropriate...), and I'll bet most of the founders would roll over in their graves at the thought too. :-)

[goljerp]

I have a feeling how the people who want nativity scenes on public property would feel if instead we were talking about some of those Indian goddesses with multiple arms and stuff. I mean, that's a religious symbol to lots of people, right?

But that's not what I want. I don't want a tiny chanukiah next to a nativity scene, or christmas tree, or even a HUGE chanukiah. It's public property; I don't want to see any religious display. I can do that at home, thank you very much.

Now, if my neighbor wants to put a Christmas tree on his lawn, or an Indian statue, or a pink flamingo... that's their business. I might object if it was a next door neighbor who had a Christmas display that was so huge that it attracted so many people that there were huge traffic jams from October 31st until January 15th... but I'd feel the same way about any 2 and a half-month long display that backed up traffic.

[cellio]

I completely agree. Churches and individuals should put up nativity scenes if they feel so moved; the city should not. The JCC or individuals should put up the enormous chanukiyah if so moved (or hold the mondo bonfire on Lag b'Omer, or whatever); the county should not. The Hindu temple or individuals should put up the multi-armed statues if so moved; the state should not.

[ealdthryth.livejournal.com]

My coworker just doesn't get that a nativity scene might make people uncomfortable. She just thinks they should overlook it. Being raised Christian, I personally don't mind Christmas displays. I still like lots of Christmas carols. However, I disagree that we should expect everyone to look past a religious display in a public place. Like I said, there a plenty of generic winter decorations that we can display without using religious displays. Of course, I suppose you could then argue that we are displaying pagan decorations. Hmmm....

Personally, I like to see decorations in the library. I like the color and I think it makes it more inviting. I don't think you can avoid offending anyone, but at least we can do our best. Since religion can be such a sensitive topic, we had best avoid that all together.

I am constantly bombarded by overtly Christian messages all over the place. And I'm not talking about Christmas. This is all year long. That's one of the side effects of the area in which I live. There are all kinds of signs, some subtle, some not, in businesses. And we won't even talk about the billboards! Most of the time I do tend to look past it, since I support freedom of religious expression in private places. I suspect that a lot of those people displaying the Christian messages would not be very supportive of displays of other religions. If they were, I would be very happy. I enjoy the diversity of religion in our country and like seeing expressions of it as long as the practitioners of a particular brand don't try to shove their brand down my throat. Unfortunately, that's what I feel happens. But I can dream of a better world! :-)

[cellio]

She just thinks they should overlook it.

If you feel inclined to engage her on the topic, you could try goljerp's question about the Indian god(dess) statue. If she's bothered by that, maybe she could see that to a non-Christian a nativity scene is kind of the same thing.

Of course, I suppose you could then argue that we are displaying pagan decorations. Hmmm....

If you decorate the place seasonally anyway, that would be a weak argument. Are flowers in the spring pagan too? I don't think so. Sometimes a snowflake is just a snowflake. :-)

I enjoy the diversity of religion in our country and like seeing expressions of it as long as the practitioners of a particular brand don't try to shove their brand down my throat.

Ditto.