Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hang in there, it's only a matter of time before you have your own uppity Jewish mom hell bent on ruining life for everyone else.
Its funny you mention that....we are fortunate enough to live in an exceptional school district. People are paying crazy money to buy houses to get into this neighborhood and SD (3 bedroom ranch that needed work just sold for over $800K)....vast majority of the school population are WASPs, you have maybe 10% Jewish and Asian are a small population....the school is incredible, K-2, around the first night of Hannakah, they have a menorah in the classrooms and Jewish kids bring in traditional Jewish food....the kids absolutely LOVE it....obviously Christmas is the heavy hitter here....trees, decorations, party, etc....never an issue. I guess it's all about the people and community in which you live
1) Yes Santa (Saint Nicholas) is absolutely a Christian figure. Not secular. I don't know of any Saints in Judaism, Islam, Buddhism or any other religion outside of Christianity. And he is a symbol of Christmas. Not the Winter Solstice, or New Year, or December. So anyone who says it's not a religious symbol is either being dishonest with themselves, or just doesn't think clearly.
2) Yes a trip to see Santa was not a very appropriate use of public funds. Anyone who thinks otherwise, should ask themselves how would they feel if their kids' school took the entire class to some Jewish place to spin a dreidel on Chanukah for the holidays.
3) Yes it did serve to elevate one religion above all others. Since Santa, no matter how you spin it, is a Christian symbol.
4) I think the complaint by the Jewish woman, based on what's in article, was reasonable:
" public school should respect and focus on all religions during the holiday season
“This is not a Jewish issue for me. It’s an inclusion issue,” Talia told NBC Bay Area."
While the other mom who accused her of launching a "War on Christmas" and staged the walkout really seems to be overreacting.
1. So you don't think there's anything of value being taught in kindergarten.
2. The point of my previous post, which is stated fairly clearly, is that it isn't any one activity that's a problem. It's the continuous chipping away of instructional time.
You avoided the issue of whether Kindergarten teachers complained. Your examples were unrelated to 5/6 year-olds.
Why would a teacher take her students on this walk to the café to see Santa trip if she felt it disrupted their learning. This was apparently the 10th year for seeing Santa. The notion that students who went in past years are now behind students who didn't is really absurd.
And 99% of families in the school district I attended as a child would have been absolutely fine with crowning Mary as the May Queen in our local public schools. Would YOU be OK with YOUR CHILD participating in that?
"Majority rules" is not the principle this country was founded on, no matter how much many Protestant Christians wish it was.
Yes I would. If I moved into a community that was majority whatever I would respect their customs and traditions and not expect the entire community to stop what they have been doing because I happen to have different customs.
Not the principal this country was founded on. That's funny.
And Protestants represent a minority of Christians worldwide. Most Christians DO know and honor Saint Nicholas, one of the primary figures of the early church. Are you SURE you want to walk down this particular path? In the public school I attended way back in the late 1960s, the majority of parents in that school district would have had absolutely no issue with kindergartners going on a field trip to crown Mary as the May Queen. And if you had had the gall to complain about that innocent little springtime ceremony, you would have been firmly told to shut up and quit your b*tching. It's only flowers and a cute little song, after all. Who could object to that?
Yes I do, educate me and provide links where we are a minority Protestant background and how most Christians honor and celebrate Saint Nicholas as I haven't been able to find this info on the web. I am most familiar with Protestants and have only a handful of Catholic friends and I have never heard mention Saint Nicholas other than another name for the fairy tale Santa Clause and that reference was never religious.
Not the principal this country was founded on. That's funny.
No, its true. One of the primary purposes of the Bill of Rights is to place explicit limits on what the majority of the population can demand of the minority. "Majority rules" has NEVER been the law this nation operates under, and for very good reason.
Yes I do, educate me and provide links where we are a minority Protestant background and how most Christians honor and celebrate Saint Nicholas as I haven't been able to find this info on the web. I am most familiar with Protestants and have only a handful of Catholic friends and I have never heard mention Saint Nicholas other than another name for the fairy tale Santa Clause and that reference was never religious.
You sound like a good parent; the mother of my friend was not. I remember my Jewish friend was having difficulties with her mother anyway. It was her mother who finally told her not to be friends with me because I wasn't Jewish. My friend had invited me to the Jewish community center and her mother made her call me and tell me I was not welcome.
I'm just saying it works both ways.
This is a p/ss poor example, sorry. You are taking about a relationship between individuals. The issue here is what was going on in a taxpayer funded public institution. See the difference ?
The Jewish mom in the original article btw did not ask for the trip to be canceled, and was surprised at the way the school reacted to her complaint / suggestion about making the celebration more inclusive.
This is a p/ss poor example, sorry. You are taking about a relationship between individuals. The issue here is what was going on in a taxpayer funded public institution. See the difference ?
The Jewish mom in the original article btw did not ask for the trip to be canceled, and was surprised at the way the school reacted to her complaint / suggestion about making the celebration more inclusive.
You can't fix stupid.
Inclusive of what? This time of year is about Santa....what else do you want to include....did she propose a dreidel spinning contest?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
