Erasing the Christian Calendar

The Ontario Public School system was started by Egerton Ryerson, a Christian.  Originally, it was the Protestant system, the alternative being the Roman Catholic system.  When I was growing up, we still recited the Lord's Prayer at the beginning of the day.  We talked about Thanksgiving in October.  We had a Christmas Concert in December.  We talked about Easter in March of April.  Our school calendar was based on the Christian calendar (and still is).

However, in Montgomery County (Washington D.C.) in the United States, the school board has voted to erase the Christian calendar.  In fact, they are erasing all religious holidays.  Since the 1970's, they have recognized holidays like Yom Kippur due to their large Jewish population.  However, in recent years, there has been a push from some Muslim parents for them to recognize Muslim holidays.  The Montgomery County Board will still offer a vacation in December, but they won't call it Christmas.  

Erasing the calendar reminds me of how the Communists were notorious for renaming cities, especially when a leader fell into disfavour.  St. Petersburg, named after Peter the Great, became Petrograd, then Leningrad after Lenin died, and now it's back to its original name.  Yekaterinburg became Sverdlosk after Czar Nicholas II and his family were murdered.  

Just because you rename a city, doesn't mean you can erase it from the map.  Nor can you erase its history.  It's the same with the christian calendar.  Just because you rename Christmas, doesn't mean you can erase it.  Nor its 2000 year plus history.  

For more information, read the NBC post here: http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Montgomery-County-Schools-Holidays-Calendar-282216881.html

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