http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061212/ap_on_re_us/airport_christmas_trees
2006-12-12 04:59:40 · 31 answers · asked by Snowshoe 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Politics
There's plenty of space in an AIRPORT to welcome more than one religion!
2006-12-12 05:00:12 · update #1
Here we go again. Pull the trees and people hate you for it, leave the trees and people hate you for it.
I never have associated a Christmas tree with religion. This was always just a way to decorate your house without putting up a bunch of religious relics. Santa Claus who is associated with the Christmas tree is found nowhere in the Bible, at least not that I have ever found. Heck, it’s for the kids for crying out load.
There are 22 major religions in the world. Christians make up about one-third; Islam is second with 28%. I have watched most of my beliefs, yes I am a Christian although not a very devout one, pushed by the wayside because some yodel or the other doesn’t like it.
The Christmas trees at SeaTac were a tradition that the airport management did to give the majority of people some sense of home as they traveled through the holidays. They probably didn’t want to have to put up God knows how many religious symbols to appease everybody in the world.
When I grew up if there wasn’t enough candy to share with all of the children then nobody received any. I guess this is the way that the manager at the airport dealt with the children!
You know, not everything is a conspiracy. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
2006-12-12 05:35:39 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
While I agree that the simplest and smartest thing to do would have been to simply add the menorah to the holiday display, I will take a moment to defend the airport's decision on two fronts:
First, the rabbi in question opened the dialog by threatening to sue the airport if they didn't put up the menorah. Caving to such a harsh initial demand would put them in a tough bargaining position with anyone else that decided they wanted to add some even more uncommon religious imagery. The rabbi really should have approached it in a more civil manner.
Second, "Christmas" trees have become a fairly secular symbol of the American holiday season. They're not part of the original Christian Christmas story, they just got picked up along the way, and any religious meaning has been diluted even more over the years. So the airport figured they could display such trees without a lot of controversy getting stirred up. But of they started adding what are clear religious displays (A nativity scene, a menorah, a kinara and mishumaa saba), they risk a flood of complaints and arguments. Clearly, they underestimated the public's ability to be offended by the innocuous.
2006-12-12 05:10:11 · answer #2 · answered by Dave 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The very best courtroom has held that a Christmas tree isn't a non secular image, yet really an earthly image. I even don't have any concern with that selection, as a liberal. non secular lodging, which incorporates the footbaths you examine with, have lengthy been upheld by using the courts. I even don't have any concern with lifelike non secular lodging. be careful the way you categorize human beings’s ideals. The ACLU, operating example, has fought for the rights of evangelical Christians to evangelise on the sidewalks of the Strip in Las Vegas. the fellow rights being secure ought to analyzed in context. also the information of the Seattle airport controversy were that a community rabbi needed a Menorah also displayed and the reaction of the Seattle airport became to get rid of the Christmas timber. That became only stupid.
2016-10-18 04:18:49 · answer #3 · answered by dopico 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A "Christmas Tree" is not necessarily of religious significance. The Menorah however is an integral part of the Jewish religion. The Christmas Tree gets it's designation from the Christmas or Holiday Season and should not be considered anything else.
2006-12-12 05:16:04 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am not familiar with everything that went on in this issue. However, I am a Christian and I don't know when Christmas trees became a symbol of Christ's birth. I really believe there will be no peace on earth until people learn to get along. I would like to be left alone to worship like I want to and I respect others to do the same. Extremists are getting so thin skinned it is hard to please them with anything you do. I am in retail. In my store window I have a Nativity set and a Christmas tree. If one of my Jewish friends objected, I would allow them to also display a menorah. It really shouldn't be a problem.
2006-12-12 05:25:14 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
We don't know the details of the conversations between the Rabbi and the airport officials. It could be the officials were trying to blow him off, he got frustrated and threatened to sue, and the officials over reacted by pulling down the trees. It sounds like they worked it out. The trees are going back up and the Rabbi and the airport will work out something for next year.
2006-12-12 05:15:03 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't understand either. The menorah has been ruled by the supreme court to not be a religious symbol, so it could be put up without being religious in nature. I think they just didn't want to deal with the hassle of putting it up.
And for the record, SeaTac DOESN'T have a lot of extra room. It is a very crowded place.
2006-12-12 05:10:39 · answer #7 · answered by Take it from Toby 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Personally, I could care less what is in the airport. Just get me to my plane and I'm fine. The guy was offended that there were no Menorahs near the tree and decided to complain about it. It's just another religious nut that thinks his religion is better than everyone elses. We get it from all religions, not just one or two.
2006-12-12 05:10:34 · answer #8 · answered by bluejacket8j 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's true that most Americans celebrate Christmas--I have friends that celebrate it as a commercialized holiday, no different than they do Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day or Halloween--and are not Christian at all. Christmas isn't Christ's holiday anymore, it's just another excuse for presents and family get-togethers and big dinners and cards and chaos.
Still, it's ridiculous not to celebrate other religions and holidays also. Goodness gracious... some people are so closed-minded.
2006-12-12 05:14:25 · answer #9 · answered by ? 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Apparently it was because the airport officials thought that it was easier to take down all decorations than be subject to a never ending series of demands to put up something commemorating every religion there is.
2006-12-12 05:15:54 · answer #10 · answered by MikeGolf 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋