by Brian Driscoll

Created on: December 22, 2009

This debate always drives me up a wall. I'm a Catholic; I observe the birth of Christ on Christmas, and I firmly believe that it is a Christian holiday rather than a secular one. However, I also believe in our Constitution and in the separation of church and state. So, when it comes to public schools, government offices, etc, it's simply against the Constitution to display Christmas symbols and/or observe Christmas at the exclusion of other non-Christian holidays (throughout the year, not just in December). As for Sen. Brown's position: the First Amendment guarantees all of us the right to observe our religious beliefs without fear of persecution. No where in the First Amendment does it say that we have the right to observe those beliefs on public (i.e. taxpayer-funded) property.

Of course, there's a larger issue at play here: while our elected officials may choose to believe in their own religion, by accepting the responsibility of upholding the Constitution they accept the responsibility of defending everyone's choice of religion - not just their own. Sen. Brown's guest editorial in U.S. News is irresponsible in that regard, as he should not use his position in the U.S. Senate to further any particular religious platform or agenda as he does in the editorial. While I appreciate his sentiment that there is nothing wrong with wishing others peace and joy during this season, doing so need not be in the context of one religious group's observation of a holiday.

Furthermore, if Sen. Brown so firmly believes that there is nothing wrong with wishing someone "Merry Christmas" at this time of year, then surely he should also have no problem with our Jewish brothers and sisters wishing us "Shana Tova" during Rosh Hashanah. Perhaps that is the case, but to wit I have not seen the good Senator write a guest editorial in which he states that banning such a greeting in schools and other public spaces violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Perhaps it would all serve us well to observe these sorts of double standards in the public sphere, in which the Christian majority very publicly pushes its agenda upon the heterogeneous public-at-large, while ignoring the views of other religious groups. In constructing an argument for preserving one religious group's traditions, a politician would do well to support his argument if he/she acknowledged the religious traditions of others as well.

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