Have you ever thought about the guys that appear on Viagra commercials? Their rationale just doesn’t make sense to me. If they really think that it is so terrific that they can get their Viagra discretely at home so that no one knows that they have that “little problem,” then why are they going on national TV to tell us about it?
There are certain subjects that may be a little difficult to discuss and that we often would prefer not to bring attention to. However, in our approaches to dealing with these issues, we many times call much more attention and controversy to them than needed.
This is the very situation that we find ourselves in during the holiday season. Everyone knows that this season includes more holidays than just Christmas. In December alone we also have Bodhi Day, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Hanukkah, Yule and Kwanzaa, just to specify a few. Of course, state institutions must be considerate and respectful of all of these and other religious holidays.
On the other hand, this should not translate into changing the way any one religious holiday is honored or diminishing the meaning of this time of year for any particular religious belief. Over the past few years, we’ve seen the slow progression as the mere mention of “Christmas” has become less and less politically correct in public interactions. It seems as though we’ve taken discussions of this and other holidays and have made them into political issues.
This all started in public secondary schools for many of us. What we had always known as Christmas Break was renamed Winter Break. This one is rather understandable, though. While the Christmas holiday had always been the main reason for the break from school, it is important to recognize that students of other faiths use that time to celebrate their distinct and respective holidays with their families as well. Also, some nonreligious students do not observe any holiday during this time. So, Winter Break it is.
This trend continued to expand. Soon, teachers were being discouraged from even saying “Merry Christmas” to their students. It makes one wonder when one of the most important and meaningful Christian holidays has become a four-letter word in public schools and other public settings.
Last week, the annual, gigantic evergreen was set up and decorated in the rotunda of the State Capitol. We all think of this as a Christmas tree, well, because this is what it has been named for as long as we can remember. But it seems that calling the tree by its real name is just not PC enough, so the state now refers it as our “Holiday Tree.” One can call it whatever one wishes, but it is still, in significance and according to common recognition, a Christmas tree. Thus, while pretending not to recognize its Christian significance, our capitol proudly displays this tree. If it really did not intend to display a symbol of Christianity, it should not have set up the tree at all. It seems odd to me that symbols of religious holidays are fine in public as long as we don’t regard them as such.
We can observe this in the private sector as well. “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Hanukkah” decorations have been substituted for more nonspecific “Happy Holidays” greetings. This is obviously done to be respectful of all faiths that are celebrating very meaningful holidays this time of year. Also, it is an attempt to keep religious holidays out of business interactions. I find this amusing because the mere mention of the holidays refers to a whole host of religious celebrations.
The government will continue to try to make the holiday season as politically correct as possible. It just needs to take care that, in doing so, it does not devalue the significance of particular holidays for certain religious groups.
Happy Holidays, everyone.
Nicole Marklein ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in political science.