Christmas or Kwanzaa, it's about good will

The Christmas season of 2002 will not soon be forgotten by anyone who watched what went on inside the Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district.

Six years ago, the district made national headlines when former school superintendent Carola Lane issued her now-infamous memo asking schools to leave the word "Christmas" out of seasonal events such as concerts.

While that incident is now past, it should not be forgotten. The question of Christmas, and where it fits between its original religious significance and its current place as secular event, is one that only seems to return every year at this time.

In keeping with a trend that gives schools more autonomy in just about everything, school district superintendent Jamie Brennan said it is now up to individual schools to decide how Christmas will be celebrated -- or not.

According to Brennan, the district will not interfere if a school chooses to have a Christmas concert or Christmas craft fair. But the district also has a policy, which emerged after the 2002 controversy, to acknowledge religious diversity within schools.

That means that while the secularized version of Christmas sits at the centre of the event, by virtue of history and tradition, students can also celebrate other festivals at this time of year.

The policy as embraced by the school district has to be seen in a positive light. While some may accuse them of just sloughing off a tough decision, what it does is open up a very important process of diversity.

Canada never was a Christian nation, embracing the concept of separating church and state from the start. And Canada's population is hardly predominantly Christian, as it may have been about 50 years ago.

In 2002, Lane's motivation was partly driven by information on the position of Christmas as taken by the Canadian Jewish Congress.

What went wrong with Lane's effort was to apply that in a way that sought to exclude Christmas instead of including Hanukkah and any other tradition.

This issue points to the importance and value of diversity in our society. Every religion, culture and tradition must be respected and acknowledged all year, but especially so at this time, whether we call it Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or winter solstice. So it is at schools, and every public school in Nanaimo is going to reflect some amount of diversity.

In years past, some Christians have made it clear that they disagree with the secularization of Christmas. The message seems to be that by either removing its religious connotation or acknowledging other experiences that Christianity is somehow undermined.

What must be remembered is that Christianity has to be acknowledged equally to any other religious experience if we are truly committed to diversity. But the idea that Christianity has an exclusive monopoly over how Christmas is celebrated is not an option.

Even history militates against such a monopoly. Ancient cultures began celebrating winter solstice, and it is surely no coincidence that Christ's birth comes at the same time as other ancient sun gods.

The essential point to remember about Christmas, now in the early years of the 21st century, is how its central participants don't think a lot about religion. They are children, and as much as some say they need to have guidance in religious or spiritual matters, they also need to have fun, and celebrate with loving families.

Brennan's observation is a good one, finding it ironic that the 2002 issue raised so much anger and hostility at Christmas, when we hope to find and express peace and good will.

We need Christmas and its traditions of goodness. But just as Christianity does not have a monopoly on the holiday, it also does not have a monopoly on peace and good will.