Dark Jedi

Do one better, and cause massive spontaneous combustion.

Choose a cross, but choose a steel/silver/gold cross instead of a wooden one...

Sabine Grant

I agree Jamie...but then one has to consider any kind of decorations related to any kind of religious notion. Kids will be the victims of such restrictions as during the Native American Heritage month, artifacts which illustrate the religious aspect of Native American Culture will have to also be banned from the school's ground.
As it is , the display of religious symbols must be part of what is evaluated as within curriculum content.
It is a fact that a nativity side by side with other religious symbols illustrating all the holidays held in December should be considered equaly as part of the curriculum content. It would be justified for a Jewish group to complain if the jewish symbols were left out of the December curriculum.
Usualy those issues do not necessitate any legal action but a visit to the school administrators and the school board ( county level then state level).
Eliminating the display of any religious symbols may help diffuse the perception that religion is being pushed on kids but it would also make the Social Sciences teacher feel like she or he is walking in a mine field any time they will approach the study of any culture including its religious aspect.
To my knowledge, the presence of religious symbols in the public school is warranted not because " it is a holiday decor" but as part of the illustrations relating to subjects studied within curriculum content.

LLaurieG

(Laurie) No crucifixes as a symbol of freethought, please! That apparatus of torment, torture and execution ALWAYS gave me the shivers. Imagine if people went around wearing little gold guillotines around their necks! It's almost as warped as that other venerable Christian ritual of cannibalism, communion. Or pix of a wavy-haired middle-eastern Jesus with limpid blue eyes and lily-white skin.

Really, there is some wierd shit about Christianity.

Living Dead Chipmunk

Hey.. gold guillotines... that could work!!

Neompterus

Okay, just a friendly holiday message:

Merry Yule to all my Wiccan fellows!

~Nea

abe smith

In the twinkiest possible way, this problem has surfaced in my Old Fogies (HUD-funded ) 150-unit apartment bldg; and I'm trying to scotch it right-now. The public spaces in the bldg = lobbies, elevators & landings, laundry room etc are of course COMMON to all us residents; altho of course our rent (for our own = PERSONAL space apts, in which we are free to display whatever decorations we like)) pays also for the common spaces we all use.
Someone on my floor has placed tiny nativity scene figures etc in the 2nd floor lobby space. I removed them & took them to the manager's office w/ a fairly-restrained explanatory note.
Then the figurines were replaced again as before
and I removed them again w/o) comment & hung the bagful of them on the doorknob of the woman who, I thought , had placed them in the *common* space.
This is of course so minute an instance of the critical church-state problem as to be LAUGHABLE; and yet I forsee that by Easter the perp will be putting-up a crucifix in the public space; and it's the Camel's Foot, isn't it?
Chances are you members here think nothing could be more trivial than this, eh?
I may pack them up and take them over to the Chancery to Our Good Beeshop, and ask him to "keep" them for her so they won't get "lost" or "stolen".
Legally, I believe, items which are left in such public spaces are defined as "abandoned" and can be discarded. I may just throw them out, then; but I'd prefer to continue the matter as a Teaching occasion.... Commments? Or similar experiences? ("But greatly to find quarrel w/ a straw...")

ashibaka

They're right on two points:

1. A Christmas tree isn't religious at all. It's a sort of quasi-pagan European custom, and is placed in the home of everyone who doesn't find it repulsive.
2. If they include symbols for Islam and Judaism, they'd better include <a href="http://tigerx.com/trivia/religion.htm" target="_blank">all sorts</a> <a href="http://tigerx.com/trivia/usreligion.htm" target="_blank">of other symbols</a> as well, not to mention a Darwin fish or something.

I think New York should just stay off the religious battlefield entirely.

Belle

I guess I don't see why the schools have to celebrate anything at all. I simply believe that your relationship with your God and your traditions should be kept private. Those are things you share with your family and other like minded individuals within your particular cult.

What I would accept would be an intense study of religion for the entire month of December for every school child in every grade throughout their entire public school education.

It would be an almost spiritual experience for me to see my children participate in a play that
encompassed all/many religions. It would be spiritual because I want them to have a vast knowledge of all religions. I don't want them to be ignorant rednecks. I have little to offer them in the way of material things. I can however, offer them knowledge. If the schools want to include religion in their daily curriculum they better make damn sure they include many religions with equal weight.

abe smith

P.S. 2 days later: upshot to all that foregoing jazz is that the nativity figurines appear permanently to have disappeared( (Izzat an oxymoron or what?) and "all is quiet chirped the little bird." True the Hols a'n't over yet.

The Other Michael

That would be a play in which they enacted a multi-religion holy war? That seems the most likely outcome of trying to encompass all/many religions (at least once the wackier parental adherents got involved in it).

I'd hope that month would also give equal time to non-belief of all flavors, including reasons why people find the religions to be unbelieveable.

cheers,
Michael