The difficulty is that in many jurisdictions, the particular
religious group -- or, more likely, particular religious groups --
contains many people. A public institution that relies on taxpayer
support, patron support (e.g., parents' participation in various school
events), and public par
In a message dated 11/28/2005 11:45:35 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
No, Mazel Tov is not "religious", but it is a Jewish
phrase. And unlike Xtianity, Judaism is not just a religion, it is also
a culture. Using Hebrew or Yiddish phrases is being very outwardly
Certainly the Catholic church with its calendar and requirements is also "not just a religion, it is also a culture." And the JWs and the evangelicals and so on. I wouldn't go quite so far as Jim Henderson because western culture(s) owes much to so many none-Christian sources that to call it an e
Steve is precisely correct on this. The United States culture owes a
great deal to Christian principles, to be sure, but also to the ancient Roman
and Greek cultures, among others. The triumphalist claims to
Christian ownership or founding of this culture is hubris, not historical
fact
Could someone, anyone
please spell out exactly what these “Christian principles” are? I’m
familiar with the commandment of Jesus for Christians to give up tribal laws,
but I see the phrase “Christian principles” from time to time and I’m
not certain all people who use the phrase have the s
I frankly think this whole issue is an example of people looking for
ways to be offended. It reminds me of a comedian friend of mine who
jokes about performing at colleges, where there is almost inevitably
some group of people who are so sure you're going to say something that
is going to offen
At 05:42 PM 11/28/05 -0600, you wrote:
For what it is worth, I often say "Mazel Tov" to Christian friends
precisely because the term, to my knowledge, has no religious meaning at
all. It is a way of saying "congratulations." (I think that it literally
means "Happy day."
I understand that it
At 08:17 PM 11/28/05 -0500, you wrote:
The joke about Hanukah bushes--though perhaps some Jews having
Christmas trees called them that--is essentially a joke.
My father claimed he had seen someone peddling the left-over trees as
"Hanukkah bushes". I can't exclude the possibility that
At 07:48 PM 11/28/05 -0500, you wrote:
Eugene regards the demand for linguistic abstinence in particular
cases "as a pretty substantial imposition," I regard it as simply a civil
response to a personal request. In my view Eugene has too low a threshold
for what counts as "a pretty subs
In a message dated 11/29/2005 9:18:49 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Steve is
precisely correct on this. The United States culture owes a great deal
to Christian principles, to be sure, but also to the ancient Roman and Greek
cultures, among others. The tri
The Chicago Tribune recently featured an article on ID Clubs. Here are some money excerpts: Dappled with autumn leaves, the manicured campus of an Ivy League university in upstate New York may seem far from the cornfields of Kansas or the rural towns of central Pennsylvania, but it represents
Rick Duncan wrote:
The Chicago Tribune recently featured an article
on ID Clubs. Here are some money excerpts:
One of them is Hannah Maxson. A math and chemistry major
at Cornell University, she founded an Intelligent Design and Evolution
Awareness (IDEA) Club here this fall.
I am not sure that the distinction between "religious symbol" and
"symbol associated with a religious holiday" holds up. What is the
test? How does it work in the real world? Why isn't a Christmas tree a
"religious symbol?" Why doesn't the fact that it is called a CHRISTMAS
tree settle the matt
Doug: How far would you take this? What about holiday lights
displays, which surely are associated with Christmas? What about Easter
egg hunts? Decorations at holiday parts at government offices? It
seems to me that the very process of purging government-run operations
of anything asso
Doug's response assumes, it seems to me, that a Christmas tree
is an issue of religion (as opposed to abortion, which is treated as not
an issue of religion). Michael (see below) suggests that it is, because
there's not much of a distinction between religious symbols and symbols
associated
This just in from ADF: In a unanimous 5-0 decision, Sweden's Supreme Court today acquitted a pastor of a "hate crime" for presenting the biblical view of homosexual behavior in a sermon. "Voicing one's conscience is a fundamental human right," said Alliance Defense Fund Chief Counsel Benjamin B
At 08:44 PM 11/28/05 -0800, you wrote:
No, Mazel Tov is not "religious", but it is a
Jewish phrase. And unlike Xtianity, Judaism is not
I keep trying to start a counter-meme on this. but when someone uses
this code-spelling in a post, there is no way for the readers to tell
whether
In his book, Seamus Hasson has some hilarious examples of govt. attempts to secularize various holidays. For example, the public schools in Lansing, Michigan have replaced the Easter Bunny with the "Special Bunny." A public library in Virginia sponsored a "Spring Egg Roll" (with sweet and sour sauc
Marci: I somehow overlooked your post. And I wanted to respond because I think you and I finally agree on something. You said: "It [Christmas] is also alive and well in the public sphere, even though it is now sharing billing with other religions. At my children's public school, there will b
That’s wonderful news about Pastor Ake. I’ve
been following these abominations called hate crime laws for quite some time.
They’re a threat to our Republic and the American way of life.
If the USA and the States don’t
begin to repeal so-called hate crime laws we’ll follow the benighted
Rick Duncan wrote:
This
just in from ADF:
In a unanimous 5-0 decision, Sweden's Supreme Court today
acquitted a pastor of a "hate crime" for presenting the biblical view
of homosexual behavior in a sermon.
Well I certainly hope that we can all, regardless of our religious
views
Hate speech should be able to be regulated. The problem is finding the right standards and distinguishing between what is to be permitted and what banned. We should be able to enforce some minimal standards of public decency in our discourse. But, I have such little confidence in people in power
I agree completely. I actually
wrote a piece about the problems of hate crime legislation a few years
ago myself (http://www.geocities.com/onemanwatching/archive/se292000.html).
William Raspberry (a columnist I rarely find myself agreeing with)
also wrote a column about it as well (http://www.cr
So is the school system that nixes Valentines Day cards reverting to the
pre-Christian version? Which also was based on a religious celebration
(except that how it worked wouldn't thrill the children's parents.)
"Special Person" isn't all that far from the nomenclature used for the
pre-Christia
"But beating the drum of hate leads to disasters."
True.
But what does beating the drum of love, civility, tolerance, patience
and kindness do?
Hard to tell, as however much happens doesn't seem to get as much
attention.
Maybe an "equal time for love" legislation?
It's not that hate speech
In a message dated 11/29/2005 4:49:41 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Better
to light a candle than to curse the darkness. Better to hear allsides than
to drive the noise underground.
And better to be highly suspicious of others who aggrandize the
definitional pow
Can't we agree that silence would be better than Holiday
trees and Spring egg rolls?
These phrases seem ridiculous because they fool
nobody. But they are an attempt to steal the holiday -- to carry on the
celebration with no mention of anything religious. Let enough schools use
such phra
--- Will Linden <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> At 08:44 PM 11/28/05 -0800, you wrote:
> > No, Mazel Tov is not "religious", but it is a
> >Jewish phrase. And unlike Xtianity, Judaism is not
>
> I keep trying to start a counter-meme on this.
> but when someone uses
> this code-spelling
I don't react negatively to Xtian or Xmas, but some Christians do. As my
dictionary notes, Xmas is popularly pronounced as "eksmas." (I can't
replicate the phonetic symbol in this e-mail, but the "a" is actually a
"schwa," which is an "e" turned upside down. The sound of a "shwa" is an
"uh" like th
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