Religious Symbols, Religious Holidays

Do they violate the Separation of Church and State?

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Can the government take a religious holiday and make an official state holiday out of it? Is it an establishment of religion when a religious holy day becomes an official state holiday? Because the United States has historically been dominated by Christians, there are many Christian practices which have become part of American culture - among them, the official state recognition of particular Christian holidays.

Although such developments are quite understandable, to what degree should they continue to be accepted as a justified part of the status quo? Just because the official support of Christianity existed in the past, does that mean it should continue in the present and into the future?

More specifically, we should ask if the official support of particular religious practices like religious Holy Days violates the constitutional separation of church and state. Are religious Holy Days really something that the government should be involved with encouraging and supporting?

Christmas Symbols & Christmas Holidays
This holiday season is, naturally enough, heavily structured with tradition - indeed, tradition is very much the lifeblood of any holiday. We have trick-or-treating during Halloween, family dinner during Thanksgiving, Christmas shopping for most of December, and of course the series of rancorous lawsuits.

Highlights:
•  Nativity Displays, Creches and More
•  Schools and Religious Holidays
•  Christmas: Religious or Secular?

Good Friday & Easter
Good Friday is a Christian Holy Day which many Christians would surely like to have off from work or school, but does that mean that governments should grant it official recognition over and above the holy days of other religions?

Highlights:
•  Constitutional Questions
•  The State of the Law
•  Major Court Cases

Sabbath Laws
Should the government try to keep certain businesses and activities "off limits" on the sabbath of any particular religion? Is there a "secular purpose" to mandating one particular day off which just "happens" to be the sabbath of the country's dominant religion, or is that a violation of the separation of church and state?

Highlights:
• What is a "Sabbatarianism"?
• Sabbath Laws: Origins
• Sabbath Laws: Resurrection

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