I’m a strong defender of American tradition, including those derived from Christianity, especial those associated with Christmas, but I am not a defender of American religion because there is no “American Religion”; we are specifically secular.
Many of the men we think of as “Founders” were devoutly Christian while many others were Deists, believers in a vaguely defined Creator or Supreme Being with little additional dogma; but virtually all of them were opposed to theocracy. While weeks were spent at the Constitutional Convention debating slavery and slave trade, the nature and tenure of the Presidency, bicameral or unicameral legislature, how senators and congressmen would be selected and how often, the Necessary and Proper clause, etc, there was virtually no debate about religion. The Founders and Framers were in nearly universal agreement that the United States would not fall into the trap of theocracy that had been responsible for centuries of bloody conflict in Europe. It must be remembered that our founders were not the Puritan Christians that landed at Plymouth, the Quaker’s led by William Penn, or other Christian based colonists. These people hold a place in our history, and certainly in our traditions, but they were British colonists, not the founders of the United States. One might say that many of the British Colonies in the “New World” were founded on Christianity, but not the United States of America.
None of this changes the fact that America is a country of Christian tradition. While most of the incredibly talented men that founded this nation were not particularly religious, the common people were, and it’s from the common people that we derive our traditions. And traditions are important; they tie society together like no constitution or history book can. Traditional activities - weddings, birthdays, holidays, even funerals are sources of joy and comfort to all levels of society in good times and bad. A society that gives up its traditions gives up the term “society” and becomes just a bunch of people.
It’s a fine line between defending America’s traditions, including Christian traditions, while not supporting Christianity as America’s religion, but an obvious place to start is by defending the use of the term “Christmas” in all areas of American life, especially in the public classroom. It seems to me that the tradition of Christmas is as much American as it is Christian – not exclusively American of course, but deeply rooted in the soil of American tradition nevertheless. Christmas is such a large part of American tradition that many American Jews put up Christmas trees, jokingly referred to as “Hanukkah Bushes”. This is strictly an American and Canadian phenomenon demonstrating that Christmas is a deep tradition in these countries independent of its Christian origins.
Christmas programs, a Christmas tree in the classroom, and Christmas vacation are all part of the tradition of American public schools and as long as they are kept relatively secular they should not be considered offensive to any segment of American citizenry. These as much as pep rallies and basketball games help young people cope with cold dark winters and the challenges of being young. Similar traditional activities in adult society serve similar purposes. Christmas traditions are among the most important that make us a society, so while I could never support a crucifix in the pubic classroom or a statue depicting the Ten Commandments at the courthouse – these are too specifically Christian and are not American traditions - I will always support a Christmas tree called by that name, not only in the classroom, but on Main Street.
Prayer in public school is another matter though one could argue that at one time this too was traditional; indeed I can remember grammar school teachers reading Bible verses after recess. But while I can see no reason why actively, or perhaps passively, observing a traditional American holiday whatever its origins would be offensive to any reasonable person that chooses to live in the United States regardless of his culture, I can certainly see why any non-Christian person, whether emigrant or native non-Christian would be offended by having himself or his children engaged in public Christian prayer or Bible study. The one is simply observing a traditional American holiday based on Christianity, optionally in a secular manner; the other is acting as a Christian.
America is a country of emigrants; this is indeed another tradition and a large part of what makes America the wonderful country that it is. Historically emigrants have come from primarily Christian societies, but recently we’ve been joined by many people of other religions and cultures. It’s extremely important that we respect their traditions and invite them to adapt to ours as they see fit, but it’s also extremely important that in attempting to be welcoming we do not abandon the traditions that make us what we are.
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