Defenses against jealousy

Northstarmom
Sun, 17 Sep 2006 12:28:27 +0000

NSM, I don’t know about that. It seems that many TV personalities were on the tube last year were very vocal about this matter."

What leads to the distortion is that probably the vast majority of Christians don’t prostelytize, and believe in ramming their religion down others’ throats. As a result, people assume that people like Katherine Harris and the people boycotting stores for not wishing them a merry Christmas represent the beliefs of the majority of Christians.

“I am glad that you shared your dreidel/Kwanzaa story. When my youngest was in a public elementary/middle school there were Christmas cookies baked, various holiday songs sung, and potato latkes eaten. The potato latkes came to a halt when, as the story was told, one parent marched into the principal’s office and stated that her son is a Christian and will not be exposed to Latkes. This is a potato pancake, so what is the harm? Well, I had been told that this mother threatened to sue the school! Anyway, my son had Christmas cookies, and holiday songs, but the Jewish tradition of latkes were taken away that year.”

That’s terrible, and what happened negatively affected all of the school, not just the Jewish kids. If that had happened at my kids’ school, I would have complained even though I’m not Jewish. Fair is fair. As long as sharing one’s culture doesn’t mean trying to convert someone to one’s religion, people should be able to share their cultures in schools. That’s how kids develop an awareness of the world, and how they develop open mindedness.

I hadn’t realized what a small Jewish population there has been at my kids’ schools and in our city. Why? Younger S especially always has had a very diverse group of friends, including Jewish ones. I hadn’t realized that the Jews who were his friends were the only Jews in his class.