To: J. C. Dithers who wrote (90087 ) 11/30/2004 9:10:05 AM From: epicure Read Replies (1) | Respond to A christmas carol, in the context of learning about many religions, is fine with me. The problem, as usual, comes in its application, in the hands of people, as you put it- who are so influenced by their own belief system, they really don't see the harm they are doing to others (I paraphrase your comment about people influenced by their own belief systems- I agree with you on that, and the more emtional the belief system, the more influence- imo). Now, while I think adults have to be presumed to be able to take care of themselves, children are very susceptible to the influence of authority figures. If we have mainly Christian symbolism at the holiday, if we call winter break Christmas break- that marginalizes everyone else's religion. OK- so those of us not Xtian are already marginalized at the stores which sell "Christmas cards" and Christams decorations, etc- but the stores are not the government, and children are generally with their parents at the stores, and, unfortunately, many well meaning teachers really WANT their students to be Christians, if they are not, and how could they help not wanting that? Those poor little kids will burn in hellfire if they don't take Jesus Christ as their personal savior. With these temptations in place for well meaning adults, and the pressure put on children by that 76% of the country being Christian, I really don't think school is the place to focus on the great pageant of Christianity. Are there no Sunday schools? Well, of course there are. It really doesn't NEED to be in school. However, if comparative religion is on the place- I see teach 'em all together. Other than that, the temptation is too great to swing for your home team.
