Catholics Want Baby Jesus in Public Schools

Oh, Catholic League - it isn't even Halloween and you're getting ready for Christmas already! The Sun reports that the Catholic League sent a letter to Schools Chancellor Joel Klein questioning why nativity scenes cannot be displayed in schools.

Christmas trees are allowed, as are menorahs and symbols for Ramadan. But the Department of Education does not allow actual images of "religious figures or deities." The DOE e-mail to the Sun read, "Our holiday policy was upheld by the courts and our policy does not allow for the crèche," referring to the a 2006 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision. But the decision didn't have a stance about creches specifically, leaving room for the Catholic League's William Donohue to say, "What we want is parity: if Jews and Muslims are allowed to display their religious symbols, it is nothing less than insulting to tell Christians to be satisfied with a secular symbol at Christmastime."

City Council Tony Avella had introduced a resolution to allow nativity scenes to be included back in June, saying, "The menorah and star and crescent are religious symbols. By adding a nativity scene/crèche to the holiday display, Christianity will receive equal representation with other religious faiths during the holiday season." All we can say is that we want Joel Krupnik and his family to design the creches - they do awesome holiday decoration work.

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By Jen Chung in News on October 25, 2007 3:40 PM

Comments [rss]

Kevin Walsh

Nativity scenes should be included in public schools, along with symbols of other religions.

Or none of them...no menorahs, no Muslim symbols, nothing.

Offend everyone, or offend no one.

www.forgotten-ny.com

smitty

What about atheists? can't we get something too?

trizzlor

I was gonna agree with just taking everything down, but then we'd be playing right into the hands of those damn atheists.

slappy

Separation of Church and State is a great idea. (Not that the State is any better than the Church...)

TimSPC

William Donohue to say, "What we want is parity: if Jews and Muslims are allowed to display their religious symbols, it is nothing less than insulting to tell Christians to be satisfied with a secular symbol at Christmastime."

Does this mean Donohue is admitting that Christmas is a secular holiday?

schadenfreudian mensch

They can have baby Jesus in schools ONLY if we can have chocolate Jesus during Easter. Else it no deal.

natis

"Menorah and Ramadan symbols are clearly religious, the tree is not a religious symbol."

True but not fully. What else do people associate Christmas trees with? While it may have started as a pagan association (and Catholicism loves taking the pagan imagery unless I'm mistaken and Jesus' last meal consisted of rabbit stew and eggs, hence the Easter motif), the Christmas tree is more associated with the birth of Jesus' than anything else these days (although the argument can be made that it'll soon be the symbol of December consumerism).

DCfist

Christmas Trees originally were religious symbols, but they were Pagan, not Christian.

Which, in this day and age, may as well mean secular...

HughGass

William Donohue is the catholic John Liu. Anything to get his media-whore ass in the news.

Outter Burrougher

Menorah and Ramadan symbols are clearly religious, the tree is not a religious symbol. Either take them all out or allow them all in. hmm, logic.

It's interesting to note, though, that the Catholic Church was very big in advocating for the taking of prayer and bible readings out of school back in the day - the prayers and readings came from the Protestant tradition which made them biased against the Catholics as well as the non-Christians (different translations, different meanings; even the Our Father has differing versions specific to Protestants). What's just as interesting is that this move is still in line with that thinking - it doesn't matter how many people it's inclusive towards if it's not inclusive of everyone.

lemon

Why can't kids go to school to learn, and go to church for religion? Why is everyone putting their peanut butter in each others' jelly? (or is it the other way around?)