<I thought it was a rather extreme position that CGB took saying that
until all the children admitted that they were really celebrating the end of winter and not Christ's birth, then doggone it, we shouldn't allow anything.>
Miss Penni, if that is what I said--and I will take your word for it because I want to wish everyone here a happy Christmas and then go to sleep so I can experience visions of sugar plums dancing in my head--I would agree that it is a little extreme. I will make one more little go of this subject, and try to express my feelings more moderately. I do tend towards extremism, and this is one of my character faults, so let me attempt detente.
First of all, I think where our discussion went off in two totally separate ways was when you were talking about the wonderful quality of the best religious music, and exposing children to it early in life, and I was really talking about the issue at hand during the holiday season--religious music in public schools and at civic celebrations. Maybe that's why our posts were whizzing by each other's.
I do believe that America needs to go through a shaking out period, where we experiment with different ways of acknowledging that the last couple of weeks of December are holidays in most cultures, and most religions. I think it's a lot neater to have a holiday tree with a Menorah on it and angels and Italian witch legends (I'm not sure where these came in, incidentally, but ha ha!), and sing songs from many different traditions in public places, rather than have no celebrations in public places at all. I'm not sure whether California is just going through this first, because we have so many immigrants, including a significant Moslem minority in some school districts, but I really liked the idea in the article of pan-partying. It feels warm and good to me.
What I wanted was for children to be taught formally that this is not JUST a Christian holiday, and that historically humans have always celebrated at the dark of winter. It is certainly all right with me if Christians celebrate this as the birth of Christ, if it makes them happy. But I have had the experience most of my life of feeling totally left out, with the Christian themes overriding the holiday. Our children are very bright and articulate and have the confidence and freedom to express themselves and think divergently if they want to, but my sense is that most American children who are not Christian do not know the long history of this holiday, and feel a little invisible amidst the religous themes.
It is true that America is mostly Christian, but still, people who are not, especially children, should be able to feel comfortable at this time of year, and I can tell you from personal experience that it hurts when you are not. I think quite a bit of respect and tolerance are the result of education--the age-appropriate teaching of the complex and long history of the winter holiday. My child started learning this formally in preschool, but this is San Francisco. It is hard for me to imagine that in a nation which is much more conservative than where I live, creating inclusion in the celebration of Christmas will happen without first some crises like we have out here now, where Christian songs and nativity scenes are verboten or heavily deemphasized, and a civic discussion and learning process ensue. I was not exactly stomping my foot and saying no music until everyone says this isn't really Christ's birthday!!!
I'm not sure what to do to improve the way children are exposed to music, which is a different issue entirely. Musical knowledge is directly related to later success with mathematics. I will just step right into the quicksand here, and say that one of the strongest, knee-jerk revulsions I have is of mostly very Christian, very conservative parents who caused education to move backwards by stressing academic subjects to the almost total exclusion of art and music and dance, all of which have very important roles in developing the mind and body so that the best academic learning can take place.
It was too cold outside to do anything at all under the moonlight, Santa hat or not!! After deciding against making rum balls, I could tell my daughter was disappointed, so we are going to make them on Christmas day, except that we are using Southern Comfort instead of rum because I think they will taste better, and making them chocolate as well. So, Chocolate Southern Comfort balls!!!! If they are good, I will even share the recipe here. There are MANY variations on this recipe, with the common thread that they are from the American South. Bourbon seems to be as popular as rum to make them from, as well.
I suddenly looked like a homeless woman (no offense intended towards the homeless) when my tooth broke. It has been quite a weird experience, and required immediate treatment since my entire family is coming for the holidays. It is so strange psychologically to be transformed from a regular middle-aged woman into a hag in a moment, something I'm sure you will never experience.
Merry Christmas, Miss Penni. I hope you understand that for me this debate is entirely intellectual, and that I wish you the warmest Christmas ever!!! |
