This is what coercive assimilatory pressure looks like to goyim

[seekingferret]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/12/22/christmas-for-everyone-the-graland-christmas-pageant/ (edit: nonpaywalled version: https://reason.com/volokh/2014/12/22/christmas-for-everyone-the-gra/)

About 10-15% of the student body was Jewish as were some of the teachers. Almost all of them went along with the whole thing in the spirit of seasonal goodwill.
...
In an ideal world, majorities stage their celebrations in a way which promotes universal goodwill. Minorities can partake of these celebrations in that same universal spirit.

FUCK SEASONAL UNIVERSAL GOODWILL. SERIOUSLY, FUCK IT. I just want to celebrate Chanukah with my friends and family and not celebrate Christmas. Is that really so much to ask?

And pity poor Ken Greenberg, who probably just wanted to be in a play with his friends at school and in order to do that was forced to embody a symbol of a religion he didn't believe in as part of a play embodying a religious ritual that meant nothing to him. And who certainly didn't sign up to be David Kopel's "my Jewish friend" in heinous stories like this one.

Comments

[ambyr]

I'm still stuck on "This was a mash-up of several Mexican carols, performed by the third graders, who were studying Mexico—long before that was demographically popular." The layers of Unfortunate entangled in that one sentence. . . .

[ambyr]

Also, "Never in my ten years at Graland would I have self-identified as 'Christian.'"

Yeah, and fish don't know that water is fucking wet.

[seekingferret]

I feel like we need to come up with a word as awkwardly fitting as "Judeo-Christian" to describe people who come from Christian families but don't go to church and seem to think that it inoculates them from Christian privilege.

I mean, I'm fine with just calling them assholes, but we could use a more specific term.

[ambyr]

I'm thinking of making a bingo card. "My other Jewish friend has a Christmas tree," "I celebrate Christmas and I'm not Christian--I'm an atheist!" "Christmas is a secular holiday," "Our holiday party mix is non-denominational because it includes The Chanukah Song [and sixty Christmas carols]," "Do you have a Chanukah bush?" "Wow, eight days of presents, that must be nice!" "We brought this menorah to the holiday party because we wanted you to feel included," "But aren't your parents sad you're not coming home for Christmas?"

"Judeo-Christian" would, of course, be the free center square.

[grrlpup]

I'm thinking that "Well, it was [objectionable conditions], but no one minded!" is rarely if ever true.

[seekingferret]

Yup.

[zandperl]

I'm surprised there's as much as 10-15% Jewish in a Colorado school. Irritating that a school whose mission claims to embrace diversity would preferentially treat one religion this way.

Last winter my chorus sang songs from a number of traditions, though most of those were Christian. I was disappointed that this year it was all Mary songs. Sure they're pretty for a women's chorus, that's a good reason to do 1 of our 2 solo songs as a Mary song, not both.