Staten,

I will try to explain.

First, Atheists, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. want to see a separation between church and state. What you believe is not what others believe and it's obnoxious for people from other religions and non believers to have your religion forced on us on a STATE level.

Second, the reason this has become a bigger issue in past years is because of the Christian right gaining dominance and power in the USA thus causing non Christians to knee jerk react, to what we see as a further intrusion of the state into our non Christian lives. Creationism, Pro-Life, State sponsored religious programs and mandated programs have violated our rights as non believers, more so recently than ever before.

So what you are feeling is a backlash. You force your religion on us, we push back by making an effort to impede it.

For example, my tax money (when I lived in New York) went to the tree in Rockefeller Center. So then why was it a Christmas Tree and not a Holiday Tree? If it's tax money, it should be separation of Church and State and everyone should be able to enjoy it equally, regardless of where the tradition started. If it's funded privately, I could care less.

As far as school days off for Yum Kippur. I grew up in New York, lived in Miami and now Los Angeles. All cities with a huge Jewish population. I have never seen a public school mandate that schools be closed on any high Jewish holiday. Some schools do close because a large percentage of the teachers are Jewish and there is no one to teach classes, but that happens on a individual school basis. Not on a STATE level, unlike CHRISTMAS, which is a religious holiday, and is STATE and FEDERAL recognized.

I'm very tolerant of Christmas. I like seeing people be happy, festive, joyous, celebratory, etc. But just as you might not like walking into a store and having the greeter at wallmart wishing you a "Happy Passover" when it's not your holiday, because of the further commercialization of Christmas which starts the day before Thanksgiving, because of the further of the Christian right invading the homes, work place, schools of non-Christians, the direct feeling you're having is a reaction towards the Christian communities insensitivity towards the non-Christian world.

p.s. - Merry Christmas

__________________
----------------------------------------------------------

"When two people agree on everything, one of them is not necessary" - Arliss