What did you dress up as this Halloween? Sorry, I mean “Black and Orange Day”. Look at that beautiful Christmas Tree! Ahh sorry I mean “Festive Bush.”
This is what a Christmas tree was called in my Highschool. The beautiful pine tree in our school foyer was not allowed to have any lights, decorations or any association to Christmas. This was because the school board feared being politically incorrect and possibly offending minority groups. I’m not Christian, but I took great offence to this and find it sad and alarming that traditions, beliefs and values of our Canadian culture are being censored. I think it is important for us as Canadians to be aware of this issue and stand up for our freedom to express our personal traditions and beliefs without fear.
Holidays like Halloween and Christmas are traditions that have been deep routed into Canadian culture since its founding and have been celebrated by Canadian children for centuries. However today due to the increase in cultural diversity school boards have taken political correctness to the extreme and have made it wrong to use the words Christmas or Halloween in Canadian public schools and have replaced them with “winter holidays” and now “Black and Orange day”. Personally, I feel the school board has no right to change the name or traditional or religious holidays or obscuring them by surrounding events i.e winter. Dr. Jerry Falwell, President of the Faith and Values coalition has responded by saying that by censoring Christmas, we are being hostile towards Christianity, literally banning the majority’s freedom.
Rather than making it seem wrong or immoral to for our children to acknowledge and enjoy the same Christmas festivities we enjoyed as children in school such as assemblies, decorations and secret santa, we should not silence these holidays, but continue to celebrate them while also letting children learn and acknowledge the different cultures and traditions of our new immigrants as we go along.
In reality, only a tiny portion of our minority religions have complained about Christmas in public schools, and by drawing so much attention to this matter it is created an unnecessary tension between Christians and other religious groups. According to the 2010 Canadian Census, 85% of Canadians say they celebrate Christmas, and according to Don Greyston, professor of Humanities at BC’s Simon Fraser University, most people of different religious groups are comfortable hearing the words Christmas and understand that just because we talk about it, doesn’t mean we have to believe in it. If 85% of Canadians celebrate this holiday, and the remainder is comfortable with it, then why are the school boards creating issues out of nothing. Some of you may feel that religion should be kept out of schools and that Christmas shouldn’t be so overrated.
I feel that not letting children enjoy the secular aspects such as Santa Claus and haunted houses is ridiculous. These are the things we enjoyed most at school when we were children. Also, I feel it is necessary for children to learn about different cultures and religions since multiculturalism is such a prominent part of our country. We are all proud our of cultures, and proud to live in one of the most multicultural countries in the world, right? Well if our country is so accepting to multiculturalism, then how come the majority of our population has to be afraid to celebrate their traditions outside their homes?
By allowing our children to enjoy celebrating their own culture and by also learning of the traditions and holidays of their friends and classmates, they will build a better knowledge and understanding of each other. They will be more cultured and open to accepting others who may have different beliefs to their own. Also, by acknowledging the traditions of each child, no minority will feel left out and everyone will feel special and accepted by having their culture brought up among their peers.
We don’t want our children to be ashamed of what they celebrate and believe in, right? So let them say “Merry Christmas”, “Happy EID”, “Happy Hanukah”, “Happy Kwanza”, “Happy Diwali ” This is what makes our country so special!
In my research, I read a CBC news article about an incident in New Brunswick where a school silenced the singing of O’Canada because a couple of families complained that it had underlying religious meaning. This is why we must stand up for our traditions now; otherwise our national anthem will be the next thing to be censored.
"This was because the school board feared being politically incorrect and possibly offending minority groups."
ReplyDeleteTrue, they should've just put up the tree with decorations, gifts and all, and not be afraid at all, because those aspects of 'Christmas' really have nothing to do with Jesus or Christianity at all.
Per halloween, all hallow's eve, some use it as a celebration of the dead.
I think canadian schools are going down the wrong path by sterilizing these celebrations of any and all traditions and cultures, and instead should do a U-turn and explain the origins and vast diversity of all these celebrations all over the world.