(PCM) Folks in Maryland’s Montgomery County are outraged over the area school boards recent decision to have names of holidays such as Christmas and Easter, as well as, Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah stricken from next year’s school calendar.
According to the Washington Post, the Montgomery County school board voted 7 to 1 to eliminate the references to all religious holidays on the school’s calendar for 2015-2016. The issue was brought to a vote after Muslim community leaders requested that the Muslim Holy Day of Eid al-Adha be listed on the calendars as well.
The school district claims that students will still be off for both the Christian and Jewish holidays, however they will just not be labeled on the calendar in print. The board said that the updated calendar shows the days that the state requires the school’s to be closed and that those days just so happen to coincide with the Christian and Jewish holidays.
The board claims the days off are not meant to observe those particular holidays, which according to them is not legally permitted. Lengthy time off for students in both December and March will now be referred to simply as “winter break” and “spring break” respectively.
It so happens also that the Muslim leaders in the community are still not pleased with the school boards decision as they claim that the school board would rather do away with the labeling of both Christian and Jewish holidays rather than be forced to add a Muslim holiday onto the calendar.
It seems now that political correctness can almost be a no win situation these days. No matter what you do, you are somehow offending someone else on the other side. Are people just too oversensitive these days or do you feel that equality changes need to be made?
It reminds us of the debate of employees no longer being able to wish customers a “Merry Christmas” in retail stores, as instead they must use terms such as “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings”. That particular debate has always had strong advocates on both sides of the fence. Makes one wonder if we will even be able to talk to one another at all several years down the line without some sort of offense? Certainly food for thought!
