Christmas Tree

 

St. Boniface is said to have cut down the tree of Thor and discovered a small fir tree growing in the roots of the old oak. He established it as a symbol of Christianity.


Martin Luther established the tradition of the Christmas tree as we use it today as a counterpart to the Catholic Nativity scene.


I had thought that the tree came from Yule which was a winter festival initially celebrated by the Germanic people as a pagan festival which was absorbed into the festival of Christmas which occurred at that time.


In fact Christmas may be celebrated on December 25 because it is the date of the winter solstice on the ancient Roman Calendar or another of the various winter festivals.


I had always figured that the "Christmas" tree was like the date for Christmas, borrowed from the pagans because it symbolized the return of the sun in a solar calendar that had been co-opted by the Church because the people were used to it and would not give it up.  I did not know that Martin Luther established the tradition.


I have always enjoyed Christmas and usually put up a Christmas tree.  I did not do it last year nor will I this year as Miles would tear it apart...he does love to chew.  But I put them up in my home.  When I was a school teacher I loved to decorate the classroom seasonally.  In an earlier time we could do that.  However I became aware that by doing so I was trampling on the rights of a minority.  Yes, the majority of Americans are "Christian" - 76% actually.  The majority of them are Protestant. 


In 1979 I wrote the following:

Proscribed

To the tune of “Home for the Holidays”

Oh, there’s no room in school for the Holidays
For the Carols, the Holly – mistletoe
If you want to celebrate the Holidays
Then it’s to your homes that you must, of course, go.

I know a teacher who put up a
Merry Christmas sign.
She and all the children thought that
It was fine.
But the School Board, the principals
And the ACLU
Said “Forget it – it comes down
Gee, the children were sure let down.

Yes there’s no room in school for the Holidays
Just as there was no room in the Inn.
But His Star still shines upon us all
Even those who will not let his Spirit in.

A lot of people bemoan that we do not celebrate the Christian holidays in the schools.  I am not one of them.  I believe that anything that causes discrimination against a minority does not belong there.  Be that as it may this also just sort of wrote itself one day.

There was a boy in my class room who was a member of a faith who did not allow him to salute the flag or sing (or listen to) patriotic songs.  I agreed to respect his rights and not have the events which he could not participate in and be sensitive to his beliefs.  (Imagine my chagrin one day when I put a record on and zoom he was out the door.  It was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing "God Bless America" - I had not even thought.  I had not even thought and that is, of course, the problem. Most of us don't think.  We want to have the warm fuzzy feeling of Christmas of our childhood. How does it feel to be a minority in a Christian Sociey or school? One person writes about it over at Teaching Tolerance.  I recommend you go and read about it and then tell me we should just ignore their feelings...


But the fact remains that the school is an arm of the government and the Constitution clearly states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;"  Therefore I was wrong to put up Christian symbols in my classroom and so I stopped. Did I miss them? Yes but I still celebrated Christmas in my own way in my home.  I also used to send my students Christmas Cards (if they were Christian) or New Year's Cards (for the non Christians) and that was probably wrong to but it was my thing and in each card I wrote a personal note to the students.  

People can get angry about putting CHRIST back in Christmas (it was never out) but what is the point?  Celebrate Christmas anyway you want. Just don't impose it on anyone who is not Christian or force them to celebrate your religion.  Keep Christmas in your heart and Love everyone.  If you insist on forcing others to celebrate your holy days you are a Theo terrorist.  Or a Christian Taliban.

Religion is highly personal and no one should impose theirs on another.  It is fine to discuss your beliefs and to share but when you try to force others to act and believe as you do it is just wrong.  Just sayin