Representative Democracy Has a Seat at The Table for all of you
Raised with the ideals that you don't talk about politics or religion. Religion is politics. How can there be a monotheistic ideological belief when there are over 7 billion people on the planet and abrahamic religions don't even know if they are to worship jesus, jahovah, mohammed, allah or living prophets from competing religious factions. Not to include the deities, politicians, saints, and celebrities that are adorned by patrons who are completely unaware of their commitments as forms of idolatry and worship. These conflicting ritualistic congregratory acts of socially accepted norms becomes a weapon that permits discrimination in the name of 'god.' A form of discrimination that is permeated by the very existence of the religious ideals.
There is a religious practice of celebrating christmas in public squares and in many cases in schools. Unconcerned about the political/religious affiliation of families involve in the community, this holiday is pushed into the environment of children who do not have the luxury/means to be selective of their learning accommodations. When 'they' want to be considerate of an individual's personal belief system 'they'll' make a declaration, "if anyone has a problem with christmas for religious reasons, please raise your hand." A supposed kind gesture of segregating the child from the collective and exposing them to potential discrimination.
The tyranny of the majority has normalized this methodical approach of demanding the exposure of the heathens amongst them. Many attempts to protect the rights of the individual have been entered into the judicial system. Freedom of religion is used as a tool to permit children to be indoctrinated into this holiday on school grounds. Who wants to be the bad guy to tell their children that christmas is a commercialized capitalistic holiday that encourages over consumption? When all their friends at school don't think anything is wrong with the practice. 'They' cleverly disguise the holiday as inclusive, using symbolic tropes and adapting localized cultural references. None the less, in order to not participate a child needs to be removed from the situation and sometimes from school performances and programs that in many times replace the education syllabus for half of the month of December. There are even sects of christian beliefs that condemn the practice of celebrating christmas.
Not to be bigoted towards those who share alternate ideals of world views but hoping for some kind of equal representation. Radicalism and extremism is only a portion of the concern when talking about indoctrinating a child. As history teaches, the cultural practice of many people were eradicated and replaced with religious ideals that were forced onto them, in many instances violently. A constant unknown - would christianity still exist if it wasn't for colonialist forcefully integrating people simply to expand the power of the church? Now, the war on christmas is less about faithful members of a hierarchal system of a church but an economically reliable seasonal growth package, that they don't want to lose. For many it is a holiday that they depend on due to the reliable over influx of collective action towards wasteful and needless spending. Environmentalist can use an entire essay themselves if the consideration is inclusivity.
A classist society that uses tax dollars to provide public services and governed by a majority rule. Freedom of religion doesn't honor the minority of nonsecular ideals if it requires the removal (segregation) of children from the public integration programs. The requirement of a diligent commitment to frightening and concerning belief systems can create a hostile learning environment to an individual who won't submit to a mentality that is unreasonable. In many cases, student involvement creates a contradiction to the teachings of a families cultural, ethical or religious devotion. The divisiveness isn't a debate and historical records are on public file. Some children might even resent their parents who are trying to encourage them to hold strong to their cultural identities. Simply because the school offered the consideration.
When there are laws on the books that were created to be inclusive but are ignored to please the majority it really puts the situation into context. There are historical references of people who kill for their religious freedom and are killed for their religious beliefs. Individuals are imprisoned for speaking in "blasphemous rhetoric" that goes against the herd and shepherds. Yet, children whose families that are economically limited to the education systems they can choose from, have to self censor, segregate themselves or possibly develop a cognitive dissonance towards their cultural identity. This is the season to be jolly unless you are on the wrong side of the spectrum.