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Every year around this time we start to hear stories about different public entities putting some kind of restriction on religious holiday celebration, and this year is no different. We’ve all heard about an public school somewhere that has banned Christmas carols, even instrumental ones (read a true story here) or of a state college somewhere that has banned any decorations with the word “Christmas” on them, and even ordered their employees not to say the word “Christmas” while at work (read about Southwestern Oklahoma State University doing that exact thing here). In most cases any religious holiday item is banned, whether it relates to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, etc. The “separation of church and state” is always quoted as the reason for such policies, but is it right?

Americans often speak of our own culture as a “melting pot”, since immigration from all over the globe helped to build the current citizenry of our land, and many differing cultures/beliefs were imported as a result. We think pretty highly of our ourselves and of this “melting pot”, because it means we’re not exclusionary, we’re not intolerant, and it means we’re just a group of people who are all living in a country together with the same goal, which is a better quality of life. Are we lying to ourselves a little bit? Is the melting pot really just an empty pot?

If we use the “separation of church and state” as an excuse to ban all religious items/beliefs/connotation from any public venue, in an effort to not offend someone, aren’t we just offending everyone as a result. It would certainly offend me if I was told I couldn’t say the word “Christmas” or hum a holiday tune (with no lyrics) while at work. I should also mention that there is no Constitutional right to not be offended. If you’re offended by something and you’re in a significant minority in that opinion, the answer you should get from any official party you complain to should be, “Tough luck” (assuming that the offensive item/behavior is not illegal). The separation of church and state was never intended to prevent anything with even the slightest religious connection to be banned from public places such as schools, town halls, city squares, libraries, police stations, courthouses, and so on. In fact, the 1st amendment says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;“. It’s pretty obvious that the founding fathers didn’t want the government to establish a church/religious organization (as had happened in England), but certainly didn’t want people to not be able to freely exercise whatever religious beliefs they have or have their freedom of speech infringed. These bans on religious holiday celebrations seem to do just that, and allowing people to express a religious value in a public setting does not constitute the “establishment of religion”. The separation of church and state should prohibit public funds from supporting any particular religion, but considering that the founding fathers acknowledged “God” in virtually everything they wrote, they certainly weren’t concerned about letting people express personal religious beliefs.

I’d like to finish this article with a story. When I was in Public Elementary school many years ago we had one Jewish girl in my class. Every year around the holidays her parents would come to the school and talk with all the kids about Hanukkah, bring us dreidels, play some traditional games with us, and make us potato pancakes. It was a wonderful and educational experience every year (imagine having an educational experience in school!), and gave me an understanding of the Hanukkah celebration that I carry with me to this day. I’m sure if we had had students of other religious persuasions in my class as a child we might have had similar experiences regarding those celebrations as well, and I’d be a better person for it. That’s what the “melting pot” is all about. It’s supposed to represent a co-existence of cultures, who all understand and respect the beliefs of others while still maintaining their own beliefs/identity. By banning all forms of religious expression, especially in schools, we do ourselves no great service. We create nothing more than a sad “empty pot”, where no cultural exchange takes place, no enlightenment occurs, and a more ignorant generation surely arises. Letting people discuss and express their religious ideals is not the same as endorsing them, and as long as everyone is free to do so, I see no violation to any one’s rights.

I will update you throughout this entire holiday season as more stories of “Holiday bans” cross my desk, so check back often.

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