School district bans ALL religious holidays

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Old Fart

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Christmas, Yom Kippur, Ramadan: One Baltimore, Maryland, school district wants to ban all religious holidays from the school calendar.

HLN affiliate WBFF reports that, after Muslim families in the area asked the school board to include their high holidays in addition to the Christian and Jewish ones, the board instead decided to eliminate all celebrations centered around religion. Now, all school breaks are religion-neutral: “Winter break” versus Christmas break, for example.

http://www.hlntv.com/video/2014/11/13/no-more-religious-holidays-school-calendars
 

cmhbob

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:rolleyes2 The holidays are not banned. The names were changed, but the breaks are still there.

Given their choices in the matter, this seemed almost Solomonic. If they're going to give time off specifically for one religious holiday, they must give time off for all religious holidays. Otherwise they are a government agency favoring one religion or denomination over another, which is a First Amendment violation. What they've done by changing the names is to take religion out of it, which was the best thing to do.
 

R. Johnson

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:rolleyes2 The holidays are not banned. The names were changed, but the breaks are still there.

Given their choices in the matter, this seemed almost Solomonic. If they're going to give time off specifically for one religious holiday, they must give time off for all religious holidays. Otherwise they are a government agency favoring one religion or denomination over another, which is a First Amendment violation. What they've done by changing the names is to take religion out of it, which was the best thing to do.


Where does it say in the First Amendment that a government can't favor a particular religion?
 

cmhbob

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Where does it say in the First Amendment that a government can't favor a particular religion?

Seriously? It's the first 15 words.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/first+amendment
 

SoonerP226

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Seriously? It's the first 15 words.
The First Amendment only says "Congress shall make no law"--it doesn't say anything about schools observing religious holidays. It's really not even binding on the states, as written, let alone local schools, it has just been extended by the courts, and relatively recently, at that.
 

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