Some Tenn politicians want to defund the office of diversity and fire the chancellor because he issued guidelines suggesting that academic departments not do Christmas parties but rather something more inclusive (“it’s a war on Christmas!”)
At a public university this makes sense to me. Also, apparently, to the faculty and students there:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/christmas-university-of-tennessee_5665de80e4b079b2818f75c9
1/5 of their constituents are living below the federal poverty line and these folks are worried about UT’s holiday guidelines?
Good to know they’ve got their priorities straight.
That Pastor’s letter is one of the best things I’ve read in a long time.
I firmly believe that too many people have forgotten how to be civil. The politicians are losing their minds over the message of “hey, not everyone is the same as you. Just remember that.” good grief.
Just out of curiosity, is the endgame in all of this to have no celebratory decorations whatsoever during the holiday season, for fear of “offending” someone?
Well, they could have evergreens, holly wreaths and a decorated tree - y’know, early “pagan” stuff. Not many practice that anymore, so it’s something everyone could agree to culturally appropriate without offending anyone. 
In fact, many who celebrate Christmas decorate with these things anyway! Its a win/win…
In all seriousness, it seems the endgame is to be inclusive of everyone on a public campus.
Obviously not, since Christmas parties are happening. The “endgame” was to have university employee parties include MORE celebratory decorations, not fewer.
“the guidelines suggest that parties should be inclusive of all religions and holidays, not just Christmas.”
In other words, don’t make it religious. In a publicly funded university with employees of all faiths, this is kind of a no-brainer, IMO.
In any case,
I’m waiting for the comments about crybabies and spoiled special snowflakes DEMANDING they get their way here.
I mean, sure, Christmas is a religious holiday, but I think it has become more of a cultural thing than a religious thing in modern times. Reindeer, Christmas lights, Santa Claus, sleighs, cookies and milk, stockings… None of these are related to Christianity. Are these off-limits now simply because many people associate them with the Christmas holiday?
I rarely see religious elements of Christmas publicly portrayed anywhere.
One could argue that Christmas ceased being a religious holiday ages ago, since the advent of the consumer society in the contemporary U.S.A. Thank goodness that we have Charlie Brown and Linus to remind us of the spirit of Christmas.
I had no idea that nowadays in Tennessee (or anywhere in the US these days) the Winter/Holiday Parties in public places were called Christmas Parties.
(Yes, I’ve heard of the “war on christmas” meme, but never thought anyone was up in arms about it outside of the media).
In my opinion, decorations can be anything - from all religions, or non religious, with non-Christian christmas decorations, like wreaths, Santa Claus, etc, perfectly okay on a public campus. A nativity scene wouldn’t be appropriate in a public school or campus it seems to me, except as a cultural expression presented alongside others.
But this isn’t the point here, right?
As for the reaction, are you sure it’s not a joke? This political reaction reads like something the Onion would have cooked up.
I mean, why in the world does including Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh employees alongside the Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic ones, imply something negative to politicians? I understand that most of those protesting are Christians but the note doesn’t exclude Christians, it just reminds people that not everyone’s Christian, which apparently wasn’t as obvious as I thought it was.
Also, yes, that’s definitely a priority for any State or Nation (Daniel Schneiderman terms this “smoke signals”- the smoke is the signal, obscuring the actual reality. He also uses the term “fireworks” to describe a sudden verbal ‘explosion’ that creates a controversy and vaccums up the entire newscycle, obscuring facts or issues.)
But there wasn’t even any banning of anything. They just said “be mindful.” No one said stop. No one said they’re banned. It’s hubbub about nothing. Making controversy where there isn’t one.
The number of people living below the poverty line has nothing to do with whether or not these people should be fired. Everything is important. Keeping them on the state payroll isn’t going to reduce the poverty rate; firing them isn’t going put more people into poverty. I don’t accept the notion that every outrage must be tolerated because we must concentrate on some either issue.
This is not the first time the UT administration has been involved in outrageous conduct. At the start of the semester students were instructed to use “gender-neutral” pronouns, such as ze, hir, zir, xe, xem and xyr.when talking to other students. And how should students know which pronouns to use? "“You can always politely ask: “’Oh, nice to meet you (insert name). What pronouns should I use?’ is a perfectly fine question to ask.”
The weirdo pronoun edict was rescinded by the university president after a week, but the fact that it took him more than three minutes is evidence that he is not fit for the job.
@LakeWashington You are absolutely correct that Christmas is more of a secular holiday than a religious one; the Supreme Court has ruled as such. It is part of our shared heritage as a nation. Tennessee legislators are doing right in my view. I’m sure anyone who is dismissed will be able to find employment at an ultra-left-wing campus where nobody speaks the name Christmas and everyone uses weirdo pronouns.
That’s not what happened. No one was instructed to do anything.
Imagine the nerve -a guide to what students might prefer to be called. Suggesting that a professor ask the student his/her/their preference.
I can totally see why the school’s funding was threatened over this.
The horror is the backlash against it. It stinks of “we think transgender people are sinners so let’s make sure we don’t make life at our public universities any easier for them”.
^it may be “we think transgender people are freaks and monsters that shouldn’t be allowed to exist, let us pretend they don’t by not having any rule that may acknowledge they do”.
I don’t see how “including Jews, Muslims, Hindu, Sikhs … in your holiday celebrations” would be considered “liberal”. To me, it’s just… what any decent human being would do.
It’s got nothing with conservatism and as far as I know Christians aren’t in favor of excluding those from other faiths. I know many Christians, including conservative and evangelical, and they’ve always understood not everyone’s Christian and therefore on a public campus there’s a place for Christian celebrations, and a place for public celebrations that must not exclude any person regardless of faith or creed.
Honestly, this makes Tennessee sound like… their worst caricature.
There are cultural factors in play here, especially in a state like Tennessee. The political culture, outside of a few urban pockets, is dominated by conservative, rural, white Christians. I do not know much about the UT faculty, but - if it resembles other universities at all - it is unlikely to be dominated by the same demographic sub-group. Asians, Jews, and religiously-unaffiliated or agnostic individuals are much likelier to pursue advanced degrees and careers in academia. I think university professors are less likely to emerge from homogeneous rural or exurban communities, and they are more likely to know people who are not Christian. The fastest-growing religious affiliation in the nation is “none.” That doesn’t mean that the unaffiliated have declared “War On Christmas.” It simply means that they are more comfortable using the appelation of “Holiday” or “Winter.” I have yet to hear of any raids on houses or churches in the United States, where violent secular humanists defenestrate Christmas trees and smash creches. UT is a public university in a country where the current generation of college students is increasingly diverse. I celebrate Christmas, but see an attack by right-wing demagogues on a university faculty as a case of manufactured outrage and misplaced grievance. The way to honor the “Reason for the Season” is through Charity and giving, not through spite.
@OHMomof2 When the diversity goons issue an edict, and it is more than a suggestion; students had darm well follow it. The way norms are established is that the diversity goons issue guidelines, and then students and teachers who fail to follow these guidelines are shouted down and called “phobic.”
The funding cut, as I understand it, is to defund the diversity goons. Good riddance!
@MYOS1634 As I said in an earlier post, Christmas is a secular holiday as well as a religious one. For most people, it’s secular.
Historically all faiths in this country have celebrated Christmas. Many Jews celebrate Christmas, for example, not in the same way that religious Christians do, but in a Santa Claus, festival way.
The story of Jews in the South has always been one of assimilation and acceptance. Many Mississippi towns had substantial Jewish populations up until the 1950s, when the children began seeking opportunity elsewhere. In my home town for many years Jews worshiped at the Presbyterian church, because the nearest synagogue was in Memphis. Obviously they would attend synagogue for more important ceremonies.
Exposure to and participation in festivities surrounding Christian holidays doesn’t harm people of other faiths; it brings them closer together. If America were 90 percent Jewish I suspect Chanukah would be our national public celebration and we Christians would take part in some of the festivities and then celebrate a quieter and more private Christmas.
“Many Jews celebrate Christmas, for example, not in the same way that religious Christians do, but in a Santa Claus, festival way.” Not sure what you mean by celebrate. I have not seen Jews putting up xmas decorations or exchanging xmas gifts. To keep kids happy, some families choose to emphasize the gift giving at Hannukah but that is all I have seen.
My Jewish grandmother celebrated Christmas with her kids because they lived in an overwhelmingly Christian area and she wanted to fit in. But I don’t think it’s common.
Otoh, we just put up Christmas decorations in our graduate office and I think maybe 2 of them are Christian. Mostly we’re atheists and Muslim.
Get over it, EVD. No one is being a goon except the law makers on a ridiculous power trip over nothing.
I’m not sure you realize, EVD, that your example of Jews attending a Presbyterian church is an example of how oppressive some aspects of Christian faith can feel to people from other religions when they live in the South.
Why did Jews feel they had to attend a church???
I am honestly gobsmacked that EVD would think like that in that day and age. That’s the reasoning we read about when we read about the 50s and 60s. My estimation was that people back then were well-meaning but clueless, so I assume this is also EVD’s situation.
This isn’t being Christian. This isn’t being conservative. I suppose we might say it’s reactionary but I’m not even sure that’s the proper qualifier.
I do hope that if everyone celebrated a form of Chanukkah and Christians were a minority, that Christmas, Diwali, Eid… would all get proper recognition and wouldn’t be assumed to be a form of Chanukkah that the word “Chanukkah” encompasses fine, and that, instead, the inclusive term “holiday” with representations from all faiths or none would be considered normal.
At UT, Christmas will STILL be celebrated and there will STILL be Holiday parties.
To which ALL employees will now feel welcome.
How CAN that be considered “bad”?
Except, of course, not anymore. Not after this fake “outrage”, manufactured for media consumption.
As I said: these representatives of Tennessee are making sure Tennessee is perceived as its worst caricature.
Of course since constituents vote for them… I suppose this is what qualifies as cultural pandering there.
Defunding Diversity does send a signal, though:
“We don’t like Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and Sikhs in this State. We don’t like diversity either”.
And you can be sure it’ll be heard loud and clear.
From personal experience, it’s done because a Jewish place of worship isn’t available (a common experience when I was growing up in the south and Midwest in the 70’s). The Presbyterians (in this case) likely allowed the Jews to use the facilities on Saturday for services.