Overdoing Cultural Sensitivity

by Alan S. Miller

Marin County, California
December 15, 2005

Striking a happy balance between the use and misuse of religious symbols is a particularly difficult problem in today’s America. The complications arise with special vigor in every Christmas season.

“Crusades and holy wars, unholy inquisitions, and religiously motivated terrorism are all aberrant manifestations of otherwise thoughtful and essentially peaceful belief systems.”

Conservative church groups have organized hundreds of pro bono lawyers to fight all efforts by communities to “take Christ out of Christmas.” Those who wish to keep religious values out of the public debate protest such seasonal expressions with equal fervor.

I don’t think that those who wish to express either their deep religious feelings or their right to protest such attitudes have too much to worry about.

The Bill of Rights still holds its ground. The courts, in test cases, continue to allow religious expression in public observances so long as there are no overt efforts to use such events to proselytize non-believers.

It also seems to me that much of the nervousness over what may or may not be politically correct in celebrating American religious festivals is a bit excessive.

We should not become hysterical over the supposed infringements on religious freedoms that concern some believers. At the same time, we do not have to re-name Christmas trees “holiday” trees to prove our allegiance to the maintenance of the First Amendment injunctions for the separation of church and state.

In all the current furor over the public use of religious symbols, and our proper concern to maintain cultural sensitivity, it seems to me that we are perhaps trying a bit too hard to make sure that we don’t offend anyone for any reason. No one, after all, can ever be absolutely politically neutral within our pluralist America.

Religious symbols have meaning for many of us. It is sad that they sometimes offend certain groups but that’s life. Their usage — whether of the Christian Cross, the Judaic Star of David, the Crescent Moon and Star of Islam, or the Lotus and Wheel of Buddhism—can be enabling mechanisms that encourage us to live better lives and be better people.

It has always seemed to me that the end goal of all major religions has been to make the world a better place for all people. It really doesn’t matter, I think, what the ideological or theological basis of a person’s value system is so long as that foundation enables one to love the neighbor and lead a good life.

And yes, of course, the symbols can be misused. Religious people have been as guilty of intolerance as any other group. Crusades and holy wars, unholy inquisitions, and religiously motivated terrorism are all aberrant manifestations of otherwise thoughtful and essentially peaceful belief systems.

I resent fully as much as many of my agnostic brethren the attempts by the small-minded folk to implant their marble Decalogues in public places and impose their flat-earth anti-scientific beliefs on the rest of us.

But I do know that for many people today, the symbols of religious faith are still important. They can remind us of the responsibilities we carry in our relationships with one another and with the natural world.

As we enter the Christmas season once again, it would be nice if we would take a big, deep breath before leaving for another shopping trip and ask ourselves if the symbols of the season have any more essential meaning than the simple purchase of Xmas trees and ornaments and gifts.

The secular celebrations by themselves provide wonderful occasions to reconnect with friends and family. We are fortunate, I think, if the religious overlay can also provide comfort and satisfaction and the encouragement to live our lives to the fullest.

I believe that, were they here today, Muhammad and Moses and Jesus and Buddha would all agree that what we really need to celebrate at Christmas, or any other time, are the occasions when we can in fact set about really trying to love our neighbors.

It is only then that we can achieve the goal of every religion, of “doing justice and loving mercy and walking humbly” with whomever or whatever we choose to call God.

The symbols of Christmas can sometimes help us progress toward that goal.

Copyright © 2005 Alan S. Miller
Last updated: December 15, 2005