Celebrate Christmas
Christmas exists for a reason. Whether you subscribe to the theory it’s a pagan feast transformed to Christianity, or believe it is the birth of the Messiah, it has a meaning.
Australia has a public holiday for Christmas Day and most Australians are Christian. So why are our public schools averse to celebrating Christmas?
Not only do they avoid celebrating Christmas, apart from wearing Santa hats they virtually pretend it doesn’t exist!
They acknowledge there’s a holiday, but no effort is made to explain the meaning. And what’s a feast day or holiday without meaning? The Queen’s Birthday and Labor Day, I suppose. But has Christmas really descended to that level?
I’m afraid it has.
Although I’m Catholic, my children have attended public schools for their primary education. In all the years Juliet and I have been attending end-of-year concerts and award ceremonies we have never heard a Christmas carol. Why?
One of my favorite memories from travelling overseas in 1991 occurred in a German village near the Dutch border late in the year. I knew some of the language and checked myself into a country hotel. I dined alone. A table of locals heard that I was Australian and paid for my meal.
Towards the end of the evening the whole room stood and sang Stille Nacht, including me because I actually knew the words. It was a moving experience.
Public schools shouldn’t be religious, but they should respect religions. Singing a Christmas carol at the end of the year is appropriate in my view.
Tags: Australia, education, holiday, religion
Finally someone agrees with my belief in that there is nothing wrong with singing Christmas Carols at school. I grew up singing all your traditional songs like Jingle Bells and Silent Night. I saw the pride on my parents face when they saw me at school concerts singing my best for them. At the same time we also participated in scripture classes which gave us insight as to what Christmas was ALL ABOUT. Those students who had alternative beliefs to that of my own were given the option to take time out from those classes and were allowed to study their own beliefs, something which every individual is entitled to do.
Exactly right Leeane. Christmas songs should be played at school concerts. If non-Christians are offended (which I doubt) they can leave the room.
In Finland we’ve got Christmas concerts in schools and the kids usually decide themselves what to sing. Usually it’s some type of Christmas carol or jingle, but this year the kids at my daughter’s school wanted something more modern. There are children from different cultures at the school, but I don’t think anyone feels uncomfortable singing the songs, because most of them are about Christmas elves and the Santa Claus anyway.
Thanks for visiting my blog!