Pretentious PC
“My 3rd grade daughter told me that her classmates are not allowed to talk about Christmas in class, only the “Holidays”, because she and a couple other students do not celebrate Christmas.
I am troubled by that. I don’t think the school’s sensitivity to the religious feelings of my daughter and a few other students should be so extreme as to sensor the majority’s expression of their major faith holiday of the year.
I prefer that my children grow up used to many expressions of faith, and the shared values they all have, than none at all. The presence of religious or cultural minorities should not have the effect of creating a completely neutral public sphere (without a soul), but rather one that accommodates all.”
Dr Idris Elbakri
Political correctness and accomodations for those of all faiths in the public sphere are important and critical. But Dr Elbakri says it best, “I prefer that my children grow up used to many expressions of faith, and the shared values they all have, than none at all.” Political correctness reeks of pretension when it denies one’s expression of part of themselves especially when it comes to one’s faith. My faith is part of my identity, and to deny that opportunity of expression of my faith denies something of myself. I feel the same can be said for my Christian, Jewish, and friends of other faiths who are denied that opportunity to express it. Schools and boards of education who remove that from the public school discourse are missing the point. What richness of experience and culture are we then denying our children in the name of neutrality and ‘fairness’?
