by The annual battle over Christmas and the separation of Church and State is on. In Philadelphia, the city’s Managing Director ordered the word “Christmas” removed from sign at the entrance to the “German Christmas Village” at City Hall. The Mayor then countermanded him, and directed that “Christmas” be put back. See here. (For one response, see here.) What to say?
For my own preliminary take on the perennial Christmas wars, in which I argue that the issues involved are serious and legitimately difficult, but also possibly insoluble, see here.
In any event, Happy Hannukah.
Also posted on religiousleftlaw.
I just read about this decision in Education Week’s daily report, and it brought back a couple of personal stories.
I taught high school government in a Catholic high school for several years, and since they were so important to a religious school, I always devoted a day to establishment and free exercise issues. After giving an overview of church/state legal doctrine, I would run through a series of cases with my students, asking them to guess the Court’s decision. If nothing else, this provided an antidote to Supreme Court idolatry. My students’ favorite case, always, was the two plastic reindeer rule from the nativity scene cases.
A few years ago one of my many Hispanic students spent Christmas with her grandparents in a small town in Mexico. When she returned she told me about an evening when she and her cousins strolled by the town hall, which was decked out with a nativity scene. In America, she informed her cousins, the town fathers would have to includes Santa, some elves, and at least two singing plastic reindeer. Her counsins’ response? “So Americans are crazy.”
My other story is just a fond childhood memory. In fourth grade my best friend and next door neighbor and I were invited to make holiday presentations. I talktold the story of Christmas; my friend told the story of Hannukah. Admittedly, no one was invited to discuss Kwanzaa or defend mall worship. But I still remember it as a moment when students in a public school classroom built mutual understanding and celebrated together. It still seems like a better model to me.