Removal of religious references reflects expansion of intolerance

Last Sunday marked the International Day for Tolerance, an annual observance initiated by UNESCO in 1995. Tolerance has been gaining ground in recent years, but ironically, it doesn’t always mean peace. As the holidays draw near, conflicts bred in the name of tolerance abound, and it’s no longer just about whether evergreens should be called “holiday trees” or “Christmas trees.” The Montgomery Board of Education has now applied the notion of tolerance to the school calendar — but in the most insensitive way.

Lili Scarlet Sedano | Daily Trojan

Last Tuesday, the public school board voted to eliminate references to all religious holidays from next year’s school calendar in Montgomery County, Maryland. Christmas, Easter, Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah are among days omitted. Schools, however, will still close on the same days, but only because they happen to coincide with high rates of student and staff absenteeism. As board members have made clear, days off aren’t meant to observe those religious holidays — they say such closures are not legally permitted.

The move was made as a response to the requests of the county’s Muslim community to recognize its faith by setting aside an off-day for Eid al-Adha. But beyond failing to find a solution to equal billing for all faiths, the board has taken two steps back in antagonizing Judeo-Christian communities. And it’s nowhere closer to equality.

It’s true that nothing about the number of days off changes, and perhaps, the reasons cited aren’t inherently wrong — legally speaking. In nearby northern Virginia, Fairfax and Loudoun counties both have secular calendars. Religious neutrality in a multicultural district is understandable, and technically speaking, schools are really supposed to be closed because of operational purposes during the holidays and not because a specific religious holiday needs to be celebrated.

But to remove religious holidays from the calendar in direct response to a request for equal billing from the Muslim community is not right. As Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri wrote, “It’s cutting off your Christmas to spite your Eid.” In failing to come up with the mature solution to the request to add a day in respect of Eid al-Adha, the board has also dealt a blow to other religious communities. It’s a move that levels down instead of up to achieve more “equity.”

Granted, the school board is attempting to do what is fair in a difficult situation. According to the Baltimore Sun, board officials said that schools won’t close annually for Eid al-Adha because the number of absences is minimal — only 2.4 percent higher than the number of absences on an average day. It seems fair to dismiss the request and take out all religious references, but whether it’s right is another question. No matter how small the minority is, its equality and voice need to be protected in more than just a half-hearted way that causes more controversy within other communities. Freedom of religion doesn’t translate to a secular calendar that strikes off all religious references — it’s supposed to provide an opportunity to come together in support of one of America’s strongest values. That’s something we should all agree upon.

Valerie Yu is a junior majoring in English. She is also the editorial director of the Daily Trojan. “Point/Counterpoint” runs Tuesdays.