Mark's Notebook


	One of the nice parts about heading toward middle age is that you can find all your favorite music in the bargain bin. - Ken Floyd

French pretzel logic and pagan Christmas trees

Carolina Morning News

Thursday 23 December 2004, 12:14 pm
Keywords: Christian Topics , News Articles

By Jennifer Royse

Recently France has passed legislation designed to create a sharp distinction between church and state. In a bold, well-planned move to prevent young Muslim women from wearing headscarves in school, the French government passed a law banning all conspicuous religious symbols in schools.

Just what exactly is a "conspicuous religious symbol"? To be fair, along with the aforementioned scarves, the ban does include the use of Jewish skullcaps and the wearing of obviously large crucifixes. So the law does manage to smack three of the world's major religions square in the face.

Lagny-Sur-Marne, near Paris, boasts a high school where students were apparently aware of the law banning conspicuous religious symbols. They complained that the school's Christmas tree was certainly a conspicuous Christian image and therefore should be removed. Officials momentarily stymied by the students' impeccable logic had the offensive pine (or fir) removed last week.

The Christmas tree is back, and apparently is not in violation of French law. Turns out that a Christmas tree isn't really a conspicuous symbol of Christianity. It's pagan, therefore appropriate for placement in French schools. Pascal Pagny, mayor of Lagny-Sur-Marne, told Radio Europe 1 that "The tree was a symbol of year-end festivities long before Christianity existed. It is completely secular and pagan."

http://www.lowcountrynow.com/stories/122204/LOCvecinos.shtml