PressEthic

I consider myself to be a very tolerant and accepting person. I delight in the fact that I have met so many people from different cultures, religions, and backgrounds at NYU’s journalism program. I’m fascinated to learn from my peers on how they celebrate the New Year, marriages, and religious holidays.

But honestly, I’m getting a little tired of all the political corrected-ness that surrounds Christmas. The Boston Globe’s Jeff Jacoby tackles this very issue and I’m glad that somebody is laying it out on the line:

When a commotion erupted over the fact that the 48-foot white spruce installed on the Boston Common -- an annual gift from the people of Nova Scotia -- is identified on Boston's official website as a ''holiday tree," the city's commissioner of parks and recreation sided firmly with the critics. ''This is a Christmas tree," Antonia Pollak declared. ''It's definitely a Christmas tree."

A “holiday tree?" Please.

Christmas is a tradition that is celebrated by practicing Christians as well as people who have only been to church a handful of times in their lives.

I am so glad that Jacoby pointed out that no one calls a menorah a “holiday lamp” or cringes when talking about Ramadan. You can be inclusive without discriminating.

I spent my Thanksgiving holiday in Florida with my parents and family friends. Last Sunday night we all attended “Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas” celebration at the Magic Kingdom. Disney, a company so politically correct that their main characters - Mickey and Minnie - will never get married. With so many different religions in the world how could a company choose one wedding ceremony over another and offend an entire population of paying vacationers?

Disney was filled with Christmas decorations, songs, musical numbers and the like - and no one tried to pretend it was anything different.

It is good to keep sensitivities in mind – that’s how people get along with each other. But a “holiday tree” is just tiptoeing around the obvious, and for no good reason. Call a spade a spade