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Separation of church and state has nothing to do with public schools giving days off so that students can practice their religion.
I respectfully disagree. If public schools, which are to at least some extent administered by the government (state), must make make allowances for religion, then religion is affecting the state, and therefore it is not entirely separate from it. If religion was TRULY separate from government, government would make no more allowances for it than it would make allowances for the practice of bungee jumping, for example.
I think schools should not observe ANY religious holidays. Having said that, there should be guidelines in place so that if it is a religious holiday, the parent's have a choice to keep their child at home without having the child's attendance record affected.
Kids will still have plenty of school holidays due to 4th of July, Thanksgiving, New Years Day, President's Day, etc. since all of these holidays are celebrated by all Americans regardless of religion.
The other thing to note is that minus Christmas, what days do schools currently close for other religious holidays?
So, might one idea be to have just ONE religious day off per religion? (I am not necessarily agreeing with that, but just asking.)
Which brings another point to mind: If the government starts mandating religious days off for schools, why not for general employment for adults?
Add 'em all, then their won't be any school days left in session for the school year
Hmmmm, wonder if they recognize the 4th of July as a Holiday in the Muslim Countries?. Or Easter or President's Day, or Good Friday.
America is on its way out!
Well, there's certainly no reason for another country to observe OUR Independence Day! (or any other of our secular holidays). And whether or not they choose to celebrate Christian holidays (I hope you don't put those in the same category as Independence day!) should depend on how many Christians are part of the population.
Add 'em all, then their won't be any school days left in session for the school year
Hmmmm, wonder if they recognize the 4th of July as a Holiday in the Muslim Countries?. Or Easter or President's Day, or Good Friday.
America is on its way out!
Psssst - they don't recognize 4th of July or President's Day in other nations with a majority Christian population either. They probably don't recognize Easter or Good Friday, much the same way as you probably don't recognize Yom Kippur.
Well, there's certainly no reason for another country to observe OUR Independence Day! (or any other of our secular holidays). And whether or not they choose to celebrate Christian holidays (I hope you don't put those in the same category as Independence day!) should depend on how many Christians are part of the population.
Not in the PC climate of today! Don't you know that EVERY group deserves equal time, etc. with every other group, no matter how small a group is? [sarcasm]
Please don't misunderstand. I am entirely in favor of every group deserving respect from others (unless we are talking about something like the Society of the PROMOTION of Cruelty to Animals), but I just think that the recent kowtowing to certain groups has gone too far.
Relax. Most of the kids don't spend the time with celebrating their religion anyway. For the majority of them, it's just a day off.
Our business used to let us off for Good Friday. I couldn't on a million hands count the number of people who actually went to church that day instead of sleeping in and enjoying a day off.
Separation of church and state has nothing to do with public schools giving days off so that students can practice their religion.
You need a whole day to practice your religion? There is nothing to do on most occasions that would need a whole day. This is just pandering. Having said that, we have Christian holidays that are also Federal holidays. Until Congress repeals them, they should stay.
NYC schools have added two Muslim holidays to their calendar. Here are my questions:
- Should public schools observe any religious holidays?
- You can’t have a religious holiday without somehow “observing” it, and tacitly approve of it. Aren’t pubic schools designed to avoid religion?
- Who determines which holidays are added? There are high profile “pressure” groups who purport to speak for the “community” but what they really are are thinly disguised PACs for various politicians.
- What is the threshold for adding religious holidays? Where does it end?
BTW, one of the approved holidays is “Eid al-Adha”, which is also known as the Feast of Sacrifice. The sacrifice being the slitting of sheeps throat on public sidewalks and doorways. Not exactly what you want to see in the current climate.
I doubt the schools are actually observing these religious holidays. Local school districts in my area do not observe Christmas. They are typically off from around December 22 until January 2nd or so for "Winter Break." School is not in session this year on April 3rd and 6th due to "Spring Break," not Easter/Passover. I have also seen school districts schedule Act 80 teacher inservice days on religious and other types of holidays. For example, Martin Luther King Day and Presidents' Day were teacher inservice days this year. Students were off but teachers had inservice training.
Add 'em all, then their won't be any school days left in session for the school year
Hmmmm, wonder if they recognize the 4th of July as a Holiday in the Muslim Countries?. Or Easter or President's Day, or Good Friday.
America is on its way out!
4th of July is simply a date on a calendar. If you're speaking of 4th of July in terms of Independence Day in America, that isn't a religious holiday anyway, nor is President's Day. And did you know nearly all the symbolism of Easter is based on ancient Pagan traditions, not Christian? (like the whole Easter egg thing)
NYC schools have added two Muslim holidays to their calendar. Here are my questions:
- Should public schools observe any religious holidays?
- You can’t have a religious holiday without somehow “observing” it, and tacitly approve of it. Aren’t pubic schools designed to avoid religion?
- Who determines which holidays are added? There are high profile “pressure” groups who purport to speak for the “community” but what they really are are thinly disguised PACs for various politicians.
- What is the threshold for adding religious holidays? Where does it end?
BTW, one of the approved holidays is “Eid al-Adha”, which is also known as the Feast of Sacrifice. The sacrifice being the slitting of sheeps throat on public sidewalks and doorways. Not exactly what you want to see in the current climate.
Public schools are not designed to avoid religion. They are designed to reasonably accommodate people of all religions.
Personally, I think that students should be given floater days for their holidays. Let them take the days off that are important to them. Schools should, however, close when the state government is closed.
We celebrate all sorts of feasts here...
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