With the Christmas season ending, people are taking stock of their gifts - those to keep and those to return. And they?re thinking about all those holiday sales and specials. One ?special? in particular ? Rep. Jo Ann Davis?s drama about poor little candy canes ? has got a lot of people talking. And not in a good way. I?ll start posting the reviews for your reading enjoyment.Our third review comes from Benjamin Cuker of Hampton:
Other Voices: Christmas is alive and well, Jo Ann Davis
By Benjamin Cuker
December 22, 2005From grades one to seven, I started each day with an exercise that diminished my self-image and set me apart from the other 39 children in my public-school classroom. My teachers began class with a Christian prayer, dutifully recited by all the other children, all of whom were Christian.
Not coming from a family that shared that faith, I remained silent and embarrassed. Although the Supreme Court held unconstitutional such organized prayer in public school in 1963, my fifth-, sixth- and seventh-grade teachers continued the practice, and I began every day wondering what was wrong with me and my family's heritage.
Out of school, Christmas dominated the season. All seasonal shopping, and television programming, centered on Christmas. Every big name celebrity produced a Christmas show or a Christmas album. And we always knew how many shopping days remained until Christmas.
These days I tune out most print advertising, don't watch TV much, and listen to mostly National Public Radio. Imagine my shock and awe to learn from Rep. Jo Ann Davis that a cabal of First Amendment zealots and big-box retailers eradicated Christmas! And I believed Davis, since she took time away from other less important congressional work (passing a budget bill, relief for Hurricane Katrina victims, etc.) to deal with the crisis.
So I looked in the newspaper, went shopping and turned on the TV. She was right. Every place I expected to see Christmas, either Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan or Happy Holidays appeared in its place! How can this be? Aren't all Americans supposed to celebrate Christmas?
OK, you caught me. I lied. Christmas is alive and well. I only said those things supporting Davis' notion of the disappearance of Christmas in order to do my patriotic duty and support our troops fighting on foreign soil. I understand that these days truth should not trump sectarian ideology.
In fact I know Christmas is alive and well from my sharing the holiday with my spouse and her family for the last 30 years. I go to church with my Baptist-deacon wife every Christmas eve, we come home and trade both Christmas and Hanukkah gifts with our children, and I am always the one to harvest the Christmas tree for the living room.
These are my choices, not what someone else has decided for me. From my wife I learned the real importance and meaning of Christmas to Christian culture. I am glad to facilitate her celebration of the religious aspect, while I enjoy the trappings of the season in a nonreligious way. Who can argue with good will toward men and peace on Earth?
I like that my children did not have to suffer prayer time in public school as I did. I like when the rare retailer greets me with a salutation that does not pre-suppose my faith or lack thereof. I long ago accepted the reality of my minority status in a Christian-dominated culture. I just don't like the religious right cr[e]ating a culture-wars distraction by the ludicrous claim that Christianity is under attack.
When my daughter was 4 years old she met another girl of the same age. I overheard my daughter ask the new acquaintance what swimming team she was on? The other girl said she was not on a swimming team. My daughter repeated the question for clarity, for surely the girl must be on some swimming team, and my daughter could not comprehend when given the same answer. My daughter and her older brother, along with all the children she knew, were on swimming teams, so what was wrong with this new girl? Perhaps Davis suffers from the same worldview my daughter held at age 4.
Happy Hanukkah, Jo Ann.
Wow - the worldview of a four-year-old! Youch!
Follow the chain of previous reviews by starting here.