Non-Christian's how would you handle this? I'm torn (long)

[golfgal]

This is from the US Census bureau-I find it pretty interesting-about 80% of the US population is "Christian" (Catholics being the most "popular" of all denominations) yet because we feel that we need to be so PC anything Christian is being seen as a "threat" and being taken out of our society.

Self-Described Religious Identification of US Adult Population: 1990 and 2001 [2]
All figures after adjusting for refusals to reply, which jumped from 2.3% in 1990 to 5.4% in 2001

US Census [3] 1990 2001 Change
in %
point Numerical
growth
in %
terms
Total Christian 88.3% 79.8% -8.5% +5.3%
Catholic 26.8% 25.9% -1.0% +10.6%
Other Christian 61.4% 54.0% -7.5% +0.8%
Baptist 19.8% 17.2% -2.6% -0.4%
Methodist 8.3% 7.2% -1.1% -0.2%
Christian - no denomination reported 4.7% 7.2% +2.5% +75.3%
Lutheran 5.3% 4.9% -0.4% +5.2%
Presbyterian 2.9% 2.8% -0.1% +12.3%
Protestant - no denomination reported 10.0% 2.4% -7.7% -73.0%
Pentecostal/Charismatic 1.9% 2.2% +0.4% +38.1%
Episcopalian/Anglican 1.8% 1.8% -- +13.4%
Mormon/Latter Day Saints 1.5% 1.4% -- +12.1%
Churches of Christ 1.0% 1.3% +0.3% +46.6%
Congregational/United Church of Christ 0.3% 0.7% +0.4% +130.1%
Jehovah's Witnesses 0.8% 0.7% -0.1% -3.6%
Assemblies of God 0.4% 0.6% +0.2% +67.6%
Evangelical 0.1% 0.5% +0.4% +326.4%
Church of God 0.3% 0.5% +0.2% +77.8%
Seventh Day Adventist 0.4% 0.4% -- +8.4%
Eastern Orthodox 0.3% 0.3% -- +28.5%
Other Christian (less than 0.3% each) 1.6% 1.9% +0.3% +40.2%
Total other religions 3.5% 5.2% +1.7% +69.1%
Jewish 1.8% 1.4% -0.4% -9.8%
Non-denominational 0.1% 1.3% +1.2% +1,176.4%
Muslim 0.3% 0.6% +0.3 +109.5%
Buddhist 0.2% 0.5% +0.3% +169.8%
Hindu 0.1% 0.4% +0.3% +237.4%
Unitarian Universalist 0.3% 0.3% -- +25.3%
Others (less than 0.07% each) 0.6% 0.7% +0.1% +25.4%
No Religion/Atheist/Agnostic 8.4% 15.0% +6.6% +105.7%

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States#Religious_affiliation

 

[mickeyfan2]

Well last year you got a non-religious song and this year you get a religious song. It seems fair to everybody to me.

 

[cardaway]

You know, it's funny, but I actually like a lot of religious music, particularly of the holiday variety. As I said, I'm about as un-religious as they come, but I nearly had tears in my eyes last year watching the candlelight processional at Epcot, just from the sheer beauty of the music.

Different year, same story. And they had the Alfre Woodard as the narrator, talk about heaven.

Since there was a very large chunk of time where the church all but controlled the arts, it's pretty hard to find good music from the era that isn't tied to religion in some way.

 

[wvrevy]

golfgal...It has to do with not trampling on the rights of minorities. Shouldn't be too hard to understand.

 

[mtblujeans]

There is something to be said for institutions just continuing Holiday tradition. Teaching children the same music or songs in celebration of holidays that their parents learned....creating a bridge to common-ness within and among families.

 

[wvrevy]

Different year, same story. And they had the Alfre Woodard as the narrator, talk about heaven.

Since there was a very large chunk of time where the church all but controlled the arts, it's pretty hard to find good music from the era that isn't tied to religion in some way.

Bummer...we got stuck with Eartha Kitt (sorry...not a fan ). Was still a beautiful show, though...and I really loved the "added" ending that they did to Illuminations, with the choral presentation of "Let it Begin With Me".

Yes, I know...I'm a sap Can't help it...Beautiful music just gets to me, and as you say, a lot of that is religious music, just because of the era that it comes from.

 

[barbeml]

golfgal...It has to do with not trampling on the rights of minorities. Shouldn't be too hard to understand.

Amen!

 

[golfgal]

golfgal...It has to do with not trampling on the rights of minorities. Shouldn't be too hard to understand.

But it is ok to trample on the rights of the MAJORITY??????? That shouldn't be too hard to understand either since our entire country was FOUNDED on that basic premise.

 

[Shannon G]

I'd let it go, and look at it more as an opportunity for your child to be exposed to other cultures, belief systems, etc. I do consider myself Christian (although a rather lax one as far as Churchgoing is concerned, I will admit) but I see no harm in a child being exposed religious songs or traditions of any religion. DD has a DVD "Elmo's Happy Holidays" which talks about the celebrations of various religions - it covers Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza... I have no problem with the fact that, from that DVD, she learned the Dradel song (sorry if the spelling is wrong on that!) - I myself have found myself walking around the house singing it after she has been watching that DVD! It doesn't change what we believe, but it does give her a better understanding of and appreciation for the beliefs of others, and how can that be a bad thing?

 

[wvrevy]

There is something to be said for institutions just continuing Holiday tradition. Teaching children the same music or songs in celebration of holidays that their parents learned....creating a bridge to common-ness within and among families.

Not all kids learned the same song, and it's not for public institutions to continue any private or religious traditions.

That said, I still stand by my previous point that this particular battle isn't worth fighting over, in my opinion. However, as others have also stated, that is a decision that the OP has to make for herself and her family.

 

[cardaway]

Bummer...we got stuck with Eartha Kitt (sorry...not a fan ). Was still a beautiful show, though...and I really loved the "added" ending that they did to Illuminations, with the choral presentation of "Let it Begin With Me".

I don't think they started the change to Illuminations until 2004. Maybe we'll make it back another December.

Kitt wasn't even the best Cat Woman. Blech.

 

[Galahad]

Didn't the OP say it was a private school?

 

[wvrevy]

But it is ok to trample on the rights of the MAJORITY??????? That shouldn't be too hard to understand either since our entire country was FOUNDED on that basic premise.

Um...no, it wasn't, else we'd live in a democratic society, not a representative republic. And you are perfectly free to teach your children all about the flying spaghetti monster at home, not in a public school.

Hmm...and people wonder why some of us in that minority occassionally feel the need to tell the majority to go practice their nonsense at home, instead of just "putting up with" sitting at the back of the bus.

 

[cardaway]

Didn't the OP say it was a private school?

Yes, but a non-religious one. While I can understand wanting to be sure that isn't changing, I don't think a few songs is necessarily shows it's going to change.

 

[punkin]

If the songs offended you, say something. Otherwise, just ignore it. In high school we sang Bach and Handel religious pieces (really religious) in choir and I was offended. I spoke to my teacher and we decided that since the ONLY reason it was picked was due to the beauty of the music, I would be OK with that. However, it was not sung in a religious holiday celebration. If someone expected me sing songs glorifying the birth of Christ in a religious setting, I WOULD freak out.

 

[sha_lyn]

I agree with Shannon, use it as an oppertunity to explain the differences in beliefs to your child.
I am part of a small homeschool co-op made up of 4 non-Xtian families. We use a history curriculum that is written from a Xtian point of view but isn't "preachy". We've found it is a good starting point to explain different beliefs.

 

[chrissyk]

It wouldn't bother me, and I'm as non-Christian as they come. I remember singing these songs in school, along with "Oh Hannakuh (sp?)", the Dreidel song, and others. I was also raised Catholic. They are just songs. I'm a firm believe that kids learn their beliefs at home. As long as the teacher isn't preaching about Jesus, I wouldn't worry too much about it. The actual songs are likely meaningless to your son IMHO. Participation in the holiday program is meaningful to him though, I'm sure.

 

[battricia]

If you and your husband feel so strongly about it, maybe you can just pull your child out of the pagent and do something special with him that day.

I can completely understand how you feel and don't think you're being over dramatic or anything like that. If you're paying for a school under the premise that it's a secular school, I wouldn't blame you for mentioning that you don't agree with the program.

tricia.

 

[Galahad]

If you're paying for a school under the premise that it's a secular school, .

I agree with cardaway and wvrevy - but perhaps the above is just an assumption. We sent DS#2 to a private, non-religious school for part of his elementary and middle school years. But, they were not constrained by the "no religion on public facilities" premise, so they readily had religious themes in the celebrations. We did not choose the school because of any religious or non-religious leaning they had. But being a private institution, they can do what the please with respect to religion. Granted, we are religious and found it nice that they weren't constrained by PC, but it seem that in this case the only real leverage you ought to have is taking your business elsewhere.

All that being said, the others are right, IMO. No coersion of your child will take place and it's probably not worth the battle if you are otherwise happy with them.

 

[karisbell]

This is NOT flames - just a question that I have been curious about for awhile. What do non-Christians teach their children about Christmas? What do you tell them when they want to know why there is such a holiday/why we celebrate/why we give gifts,etc? Do you teach them the history behind the holiday or just hope they don't ask?

I am a Christian and I have a really hard time at Halloween. Many of the things in the stores, children's stories, etc make me very uncomfortable. I don't exactly know what to teach my children without zapping all the fun out of it. I don't want to scream that it is all evil and lock our doors and turn out the lights, but I don't want them to think it is an important holiday that celebrates anything close to what we celebrate at Christmas. I was wondering if non-Christians have the same kind of uncomfortableness at Christmas.

Please understand this is NOT FLAMES!! I am not trying to be judgemental. I believe that my priority is to love people where they are. I think part of loving people of all beliefs is to grow in understanding of them. Not to judge them because they don't have the same belief system.