Equity for religious holidays does not translate to exclusivity
Though the weather in Los Angeles might lead you to think otherwise, the holiday season is fast approaching. That is, for everyone except the Montgomery County (Maryland) Board of Education.
Lili Scarlet Sedano | Daily Trojan
Last week, the board voted in a seven-to-one decision to drop all references to religious holidays from its days off on the official 2015-2016 school calendar, including Christmas, Easter, Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. The board made the decision after the Muslim community’s request for school leaders to give equal billing to the major Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha on its calendar.
Though the board’s decision was made in an attempt to appease those who would like to see more religious representation in the school’s official calendar, the move to nix all references to religious holidays is a poor, offensive and ultimately pointless answer.
The decision was met with warranted criticism, as many perceived it as a measure that would simply keep things exactly as they were before with the same days off. Going forward, the new calendar will only reflect the days the state requires the county to be closed, as well as the days that have shown a high level of student and staff absenteeism.
“The best way to accommodate the diversity of our community is to not make choices about which communities we’re going to respect in our calendar and which ones we’re not going to respect,” Board President Phil Kauffmann told WHQR Public Radio.
Though the decision to refer to school holidays as “winter break” and “spring break” isn’t a big deal, the fact that it came on the heels of the Muslim community’s appeal to be included in the school calendar, is. Rather than address the grievances of a community that makes up approximately 10 percent of the county’s population, the board instead chose to make a mockery of their request for equal billing on the school calendar under the pretense of maintaining neutrality when there so clearly isn’t any.
The board’s decision to rebrand holidays by pretending that school breaks coincide with religious holidays merely by chance insults the intelligence of the citizens of Montgomery County. The Muslim community wasn’t asking the county to expunge religion from its official calendar. Rather, they simply asked that the county highlight its religious diversity by giving the major Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha the same billing of Christmas and Rosh Hashanah. The board could have just as easily taken the small step of honoring the Muslim community’s request and listing the Eid al-Adha alongside Yom Kippur (both of which fall on the same day next year), or even gone the extra mile and agreed to add the holiday to the calendar permanently as a means of acknowledging the diversity of faiths within the county. But instead, the board chose to pretend that religious holidays don’t factor into the county’s decisions at all.
Forgoing religious holidays on the school calendar is not a solution. Rather, it only serves as a slap in the face to those who only wish to have their faith equally listed alongside others on the school calendar. Sidestepping the Muslim community’s request for inclusivity by implementing a practice of total exclusivity is not the answer.
Yasmeen Serhan is a junior majoring in international relations. She is also the special projects editor of the Daily Trojan. “Point/Counterpoint” runs Tuesdays.
Yasmeen – Well, you’re half right on this one. The Muslim demands to recognize their religious holiday in a United States school district calendar was in fact deserving of a VIRTUAL slap in the face. I think the citizens of Montgomery County should vote all of the school board members off except for the one sensible board member who voted against this.
Please feel free to Google my name or find some way on Earth to read my many previous comments on this sad topic that comes up each and every year, but unfortunately more and more lately. It’s ridiculous. When will people learn the TRUTH and FACT that colleges and universities, school districts, private companies, public institutions, state governments, etc etc are implementing calendars with holidays that simply mirror FEDERAL HOLIDAYS! Sorry to break it to the Muslims and Jews and secular ones among us but our Constitution simply grants them (as it should) the right to practice and observe any religion they want… or no religion at all. That’s it. However, the history of THIS country is firmly and clearly rooted in Christian theology and Christian deism. For this very understandable reason, our Federal government specifically observes Christmas. It is a Federal holiday, as it should be, due to the beliefs and practices of our nations founders.
Why is this a continued problem for people, particularly those who immigrate to this country?! It’s baffling, if not infuriating and tiresome. I can not imagine immigrating to Iran or Saudi Arabia, as a Christian, and demanding that if they officially observe Ramadan, they must also observe my Christian holiday. Nor can I imagine immigrating to Israel, as a Christian, and demanding that if they officially observe Yom Kippur, that they must also observe my Christian holiday. The hubris displayed by the Muslim community in Montgomery County, as well as other groups elsewhere, is truly astonishing.
My position needs no religious defense. This can be argued on a secular, intellectual level. There is a reason my company in the United States observes Christmas and not these holidays, and it begins and ends with history itself. Why must we rewrite or redact our history in the face of these tiresome and selfish demands!
Yasmeen, Muslims are killing Christians and burning down their churches across the Middle East and Northern Africa. When are you going to speak out against this?
Yasmeen, why is it that in the heart of Islam, Saudi Arabia, it is illegal to wear a cross in public?