... the Spanish Inquisition!

Least of all: smugly comfortable, lukewarmly Christian Americans whose free-market economics have turned what was once a day of religious obligation into an orgy of secular consumerism.

Remember when Thanksgiving marked the beginning of the Christmas Season (to be read: Christmas shopping season), symbolized by the insertion of Santa Claus into Macy's at the end of their parade? You may not have noticed, but availabilty of merchandise in retail establishments in recent years indicates that the "Christmas" season now begins before Halloween - except in the mail-order catalog business, where it begins before Labor Day.

So now ed nelson wants his cake while eating it, and to force-feed cake to the rest of the populace a la Marie Antoinette. In other words, the secular Xmas season is to be continually flaunted months before its (climatic) seasonal icons are meaningful, then gilded at the very last minute with the "traditional" mainstream Protestant Christmas pageant he remembers from his childhood (as I also do, as readily as I remember "the Lord's Prayer" recited at the beginning of the school day - whose lord was that?).

Guess what, ed - public schools are, by law, secular institutions. Court precedent has been set regarding what is and is not permissable utterance of religious references in the public schools. Demographics are not what they were in the lily-white '50s, either, so there are two ways to go: either represent everybody, or represent nobody. The most popular option is to include. Second-most popular option is to put your children in a private, religious-oriented school; third (and climbing fast) is home schooling - but that pretty much scotches the pageant, doesn't it?

If I had my druthers, I'd go the way of total exclusion. It's just another day of the week - you want off from work, you have to use a vacation day, like I do for the Jewish holidays; you want your kids out of school that day, you have to ask permission, provide a reasonable excuse (such as: religious obligation) and the children are responsible for work missed, just like all non-Christian children must do in the public schools for their holidays.

But I don't get my druthers - I'm a minority. Soon, ed, you'll be one too.

BTW: around here, school is closed for the first two days of Deer Season - by all appearances, it's a religious holiday.

E'