Articles Index

Schools and Religious Holidays
Traditionally, public schools in America have been very explicit in their celebration of the holiday season - for students, it was a Christmas holiday season, a Christmas break, and celebratory events were specifically oriented towards Christmas. So long as America has been predominantly Christian in composition, such a focus went unchallenged and even unnoticed by the majority.

Christmas: Religious or Secular?
Americans all over the country in all walks of life look forward to getting a day off on December 25, a day which has traditionally (and almost certainly erroneously) been celebrated as the birth day of Jesus Christ, savior for all Christians. What's wrong with that? Nothing, really - except possibly the fact that it is a holiday which is legally recognized/mandated by our government. Should Christmas be treated like a secular holiday?

Government Nativity Displays
Surely the most obvious and divisive of the holiday questions is that of religious displays in public. These generate the most discussion, the most debate, and of course the most lawsuits - including a couple of high-profile Supreme Court cases. Understanding these issues go a long way towards helping us understand the entire spectrum of social problems surrounding religious holidays.