As a non-Christian I find Christmas stupid. Not in an offensive way...or at least don't try to be, but the funny man who gives out gifts, the lights, the lack of any evidence supporting Christ's birth as on the 25th, etc. I don't mean to offend people for celebrating this religious holiday, but the way its celebrated, especially in America, is disturbing. To that extent, I am not opposed to the school policy. HOWEVER, on the other hand, there are aspects to the holiday and the way it is celebrated that are good. The giving spirit, the sense of family, etc. There is, I think, a need for that type of holiday. I think banning certain words in school does little to change the "spirit" of the holiday. Those words obviously aren't banned everywhere, and the parents can now have more control about what their kids know about the holiday, how they celebrate it, etc. I don't see this policy as a big deal at all. But, I'm not Christian...
Not that I disagree, but would it bother you if they ban the mention of Hanukka, Ramadan, Diwali, Bodhi Day, Eid al Adha, etc.?
of course not. i don't think kids should be isolated from the outside world as they mature, but I do believe in pretty strict separation of church and state. i don't think religion has any place in public education. i don't think religion has any place in government (remember the bible in front of the courthouse case a few years back?). BUT...I'm not religious!
As a Christian, I would have to say that I agree with you that the origins of Christmas are very kooky, weird, and somewhat stupid. But these people are wrong in a sense - they have lost the true spirit of Christmas. The true spirit of Christmas is a celebration of Christ's birth. Actions like these are a complete change from "let's celebrate the birth of Christ" to "let's have a miscellaneous celebration of stuff in general". But that's what America is all about. We don't have an official religion. We Christians have had it our way for two centuries and now it's slowly coming to an end. If we don't like it then we (a) should have decided to make it the official religion of the USA a long time ago when the USA was founded ..OR (b) should now choose to live somewhere else where Christianity is the official religion (such as New Zealand)... or (c) accept that our society is becoming religiously neutral.
