<And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke [sic] also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Matthew 5:40-41.

Is this not the Christian way? Why should it bother a Christian to have a carol sing taken away?

But this noble sentiment was proclaimed before Christianity became a state religion in Europe and a dominant cultural force in the United States. Those who are in the dominant group are unaccustomed to having their ways ignored or even dissed.

Welcome to the experience of the cultural minorities! The Christians get to sit in the stands ignored and seething while the others' religious and cultural heritages are declaimed (or sung) out loud with official sanction. Some fun with the shoe on the other foot, huh?

The intellectual dishonesty of pretending that only the dominant tradition is important is plenty annoying too. This might serve as a good lesson in empathy.

A compromise that has worked in other communities: suggest that religious songs be allowed not in chorus, but as solos, as an expression of the cultural heritage of the holiday, a valid anthropological point that doesn't force a Jewish kid to sing "Silent Night" as part of the music curriculum. Your kids were forced to sing Hanukkah songs? So now they know a few. Non-Christians are bombarded with every carol known to man for an entire month every year, including "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" by the Peanuts gang (which I love), "The Little Drummer Boy" by Joan Jett, and "Do You Hear What I Hear?" in duet by Bing Crosby and David Bowie. Non-Christians' education in Christmas music has no holes in it.

Bonus question: Which particular winter religious feast is a national holiday on which over 80% of Americans of all faiths have the day off whether they want it or not? (Hint: It's a Christian feast.)

Your bishop takes rook, queen and king in this particular game of cultural chess. Why get upset over losing a couple of pawns?

Self-loathing is not the issue, not to me. The issue is to try to understand the viewpoints of those not part of the mainstream American tradition.

Regards--
Mary Anne