Posted by Samhain_Dream at d194-241.uoregon.edu on October 30, 2001 at 19:14:08:
In Reply to: I know what you meant, but I don't know about the posted by Hogwash on October 30, 2001 at 18:53:53:
: Christmas controversy. Enlighten me.
: Oh and uh, to keep this on-topic, Ummmmm... 37?
Some people of different faiths find it uncomfortable that the government takes a holiday on December 25 and maintains the name of Christmas Day. Some have advocated changing the official name to something more "secular." There have been arguments as to whether trees and wreaths are religious or secular in nature. Most places now have no problem with the decorations as long as they do not include figures like Jesus, etc.
But there was a push to change the name of schools' December vacations from "Christmas break" to "Winter break," which is much better but still not semantically correct since many "winter" vacations begin well before December 21st, the first official day of winter. However I will not complain loudly at that one. It's better calling it that than having an entire month of vacation designated "for Christmas."