Christmas

Christmas is rapidly approaching, and I really need to get cracking and buy a bunch of presents for friends and family. I am never particularly good at doing this, one of my (somewhat embarrassingly long list of) minor faults and personality quirks. And however much Christmas brings out my inner misanthrope, it is ultimately hard not to get caught up in the seasonal merriment and general cheer, and of course, the wine does help.

A strong practicing Christian I am definitely not, but the choral music and carols can also be a delightful part of the whole Christmas season, especially if you can get to a snow-covered, historical church with a talented choir. The Christmas carols, choral music and religious celebrations are part of my cultural background, even if I happen to be an atheist.

So although the War on Christmas is mostly a trope, it seems misguided to ban the singing of Christmas carols in schools, as happened recently in the US and a while ago in the UK. I understand that some children in these schools may not be Christian, and may be Jewish, Muslim or non-religious, but carols are part of Western cultural history, and serve a purpose beyond the religious. Wouldn't a simple "opt-out" be sufficient if some children didn't want to sing one or more particular song? Another simple approach would be to incorporate celebrations, music or festivals from other faiths, in addition to the traditionally Christian ones.

Although I am not a conservative and not particularly fond of tradition for its own sake, this approach to dealing with a diversity of opinion and tradition just seems wrong. In the West right now you are likely to meet and interact with people from different backgrounds so we might as well learn something about other cultures and religions, while still celebrating our own heritage.