A Christian Liberal is NOT an oxymoron.

Posted by XT on July 12th, 2009 in Progressive Faith

Wapo asks if Muslim holidays should be observed, we get one of the most asinine answers ever:

The question of whether Muslim holidays should be added to public school calendars presupposes that Christian and Jewish holidays are now observed. If that were so, it would be appropriate to add Muslim holidays, and, as Mayor Bloomberg says, accommodate other faiths as well.

Well, let’s see – how about Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Good Friday?

My question as a Christian would be, what Christian holiday is observed? Christmas is observed not as the birthday of Christ–in fact in many schools saying “Merry Christmas” is verboten. And some communities have gone to great lengths to disguise any Christian roots. Let’s face it, it is a secular observance today, largely to provide a winter break and to pump up the economy with Christmas sales.

I wonder if Colson will be singled out as an enemy the next time the “War on Christmas” cranks up…

In “many schools”? Which ones, I wonder. Seriously, can anyone provide a link to a school district that has formally forbidden the saying of “Merry Christmas?”

And since the question is specifically about New York City schools, I looked at the school calendar and noticed the following holidays:
September 28 – Yom Kippur
November 26-7 – Thanksgiving

Now, it can be argued that Thanksgiving is not a specifically Christian holiday, but Yom Kippur? That’s as Jewish as…I don’t know, Moses? Plus the “Winter Recess” is scheduled so that Christmas doesn’t need a specific holiday and “Spring Recess” is scheduled so that Good Friday/Easter doesn’t need a specific holiday. So…anyone want to argue coincidence here?

But he does have a good idea:

The simple solution is for the school to recognize days of religious observance and give various individuals freedom to miss a day of school to observe their faith’s holidays. This could be applied to Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, and Jews alike.

Yeah, like I say, we need to have school 52 weeks a year. Then parents could simply schedule time away for their kids in whatever fashion they want. I’m sure this is what Colson is saying, too.

Christmas has been largely secularized, but it’s still a religious holiday. Just like Hannukah, in America, is expanded to where it’s a much different holiday than is observed elsewhere – but it’s still a religious holiday. If Eid and Duwali are expanded and make their place among the larger American consciousness, then they will be something other than what they mean for the faithful – but they will remain religious holidays. Pretending otherwise is not only disingenuous, it’s stupid.

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