Minor Holiday, Major Message?

1 CommentReligion, Religious Freedom, ,

The following blog post is by Family Council staff member Deborah Beuerman.

The Jewish celebration of Hanukkah this year received much more attention in the news than usual because Hanukkah and Thanksgiving overlapped for the first time in over 100 years.

Like most non-Jews, I knew little about this festival.  I knew it is called The Festival of Lights, that one more candle on a candle stand called a menorah is lighted each day for about a week, that the celebration somehow commemorates a battle, that potato pancakes and dreidels are involved, that it is a minor holiday, and that in this country many Jewish children are given gifts because their parents don’t want them to be envious of Christian children who receive Christmas gifts around the same time.

I was enlightened by a caller to a talk show who explained the meaning of Hanukkah and offered some very thought-provoking insight into the situation in our country today.

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City Refuses to Remove Nativity Scene Despite Threats from Atheists

Christmas, ,

The Freedom From Religion Foundation–which we recently wrote about–is, once again, threatening legal action over a Nativity scene on city property. This time, it’s in the small town of Chipley, Florida.

Chipley, a town of roughly 3,700 residents, has a Nativity display on the lawn of its city hall. Freedom From Religion Foundation has told the city the display is unconstitutional (an assessment that is most likely incorrect) and threatened legal action. The city, however, has refused to take the Nativity scene down.

Christmas is a holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. It has never been anything else in this country. Our government has chosen to recognize Christmas as a federal holiday. Why, then, would it be unconstitutional for a government entity to put up a decoration depicting the very event Christmas celebrates?

To read more about this story, click here.

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