Normally my natural sympathies would lie with plaw on issues but I'm leaning towards the Don and the other guys on this one. To me Christmas while it has its roots in religion is not a religious holiday anymore. St Patrick's Day has its roots in religion, the coming of Christianity to Ireland, but these days it's just a celebration of Irishness (i.e. an excuse to get rat assed!).

In American terms I would probably be classed as a liberal (and happy to be so), but really, people who manage to get offended by Christmas trees and carol singing don't do anything to defend or promote liberal values...in fact they probably need to get out more. They are as narrow minded and reactionary as the most fundamental conservative (yes, you Double J )

Plaw's main point is about the promotion of one particular set of religious values and beliefs over another (or all others) in state funded schools. On this I am broadly in agreement with him. If you want faith based education for your kids send them to a faith school. However I cannot see that the playing of Christmas melodies nor the hanging of lights or a tree promotes Christianity over Judaism, Islam or Voodoo for that matter.

The issue is for some of the people complaining about Xmas symbols, "Do I see something that offends me" or "Do I decide I'm going to get offended and then look for something that fits the bill"

700 posts...congrats Senza Mama