IJII

        Overzealous and Unproductive

                                                                                             By

                                                                                    Israel Drazin

              The December 15, 2009 Florida Sun Sentinel reported that a “Boca pastor says that (a certain)
library needs to add a Nativity scene.” The pastor was provoked by the
Boca Raton library having “a lighted Christmas tree, a tabletop
electric Hanukkah menorah, a miniature Santa Claus and snowman
figures.” He and “local Christian activists…announced they want more –
a crèche depicting the birth of Jesus.” The pastor insists that
a two foot wide and six inch high crèche must be placed on the city
property to show “religious equality.”

              The pastor’s reaction mirrors that of some Jews in another Florida city who objected that there was no menorah in a holiday display at a school that had a hundred foot Christmas tree. The school capitulated and placed the menorah.

              The
newspaper commented that courts allowed holiday decorations, both
secular and religious, on government property, if the display avoids
favoring a particular religion. The pastor insisted that the crèche certainly meets this criterion: it has nothing to do with the Christian faith. The pastor added: “We’ll fight them as far as this needs to go.”

              Religious symbols should not be placed on public grounds. The placements create controversy and are a violation of the
first amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibiting the establishment
of religion? The courts have decided that if the “purpose” of the act
is religious or if its “primary effect” is religious or if there is
“excessive entanglement” between church and state – any one of these
three – there is a violation of the first amendment.

              Therefore, to meet the court’s demands, these activists claim that the “purpose” of the crèche and menorah and their “primary effect” on people is not religious.

              Do they really believe this? Do they even want to believe this? And do they want us and their children to believe that the crèche and menorah have no religious significance?

              We are reminded of the famous U.S. Supreme Court case where the Court allowed our
government to declare Christmas a national holiday. How could the Court
do this? Isn’t Christmas one of the most sacred days of the Christian
religion? Isn’t this ruling a violation of the Establishment Clause? Unfortunately the Supreme Court bought the misguided insistence of the people who said that Christmas has nothing to do with religion.

              Did these people accomplish their real mission to increase Christianity? No, they helped turn Christmas, a sacred Christian holiday, into a day that focuses attention on two-months of sales. Did their children become more religious because their parents insisted that Christmas is secular? Of course not. They either agreed with their parents and lost a vital part of the spirituality of Christianity or they realized that their parents made deceitful statements and they lost respect for their parents and interest in their faith.

              The Torah teaches that God created all humans. Does it make sense that God wants people to use religious symbols to create diversity among His creations?

              The holiday of Hanukkah
celebrates the victory of the Jews against a people who attempted to
foist their religious practices upon them. Candles are lit to
commemorate that after years of fighting with many deaths, the Jews
were able to practice their religion in peace. Is it reasonable to turn the meaning of the holiday into days of dissension?             

              The rabbis taught that Jews should place their menorahs in their windows to publicize the ancient miracle that resulted in peace. Certainly they did not want the menorah to become a symbol of quarrels.

              Families should decorate their homes with crèches and menorahs and other religious symbols if they want
to do so. Parents should teach their children their values and society
should respect their religious rights. However, everyone should realize
the true effects of their behavior.

              It is worth remembering that Benjamin Franklin observed that “to be overzealous in religion is to be irreligious.”

Dr.
Israel Drazin is the author of fifteen books, including a series of
five volumes on the Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible, which he coauthors with Rabbi Dr. Stanley Wagner, and a series of four books on the twelfth century philosopher Moses Maimonides, the latest being Maimonides: Reason Above All, published by Gefen Publishing House, www.israelbooks.com.

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