Jesus returns -- to Bakersfield district's school calendar

[The Straight Story]

Jesus returns -- to Bakersfield district's school calendar
By Steve Chawkins, Times Staff Writer
December 22, 2006

After an absence of nearly 20 years, Christmas is back on the calendar at high schools throughout Bakersfield and surrounding communities.

At a contentious meeting Thursday, board members of one of the largest secondary-school districts in the state voted to change "winter recess" to "Christmas recess" and "spring recess" to "Easter recess."

Officials of the 36,000-student Kern High School District said they were reclaiming terms that had been needlessly washed away by a tide of political correctness in the late 1980s. The district is just the latest of several nationwide that have taken such action in the last year or two.

"I don't buy the secular atheist agenda that we should expunge all religious dialogue from the public forum," said board member Chad Vegas, a recently elected Bakersfield pastor who called for the renaming. "I don't believe we should exclude a traditional American holiday from the calendar under the pressure of political correctness."

But Rabbi Cheryl Rosenstein wasn't swayed by Vegas' assertions that no offense was meant to non-Christians.

http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-holiday22dec22,1,1177520.story?coll=la-news-learning

[Taverner]

1. Freaks!

Gaaaah why do these people share my gene pool????

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. More chlorine perhaps?? Jesus saves and Jordan scores

on the rebound......

[northofdenali]

10. Jesus saves -

but Moses invests.

Why, oh WHY do people pull this bullshit? "Secular atheists" indeed. How about Jews? Muslims? Buddhists? Wiccans? Pagans? Fucking jerk. Yet another non-Christian Fundie.

[Az]

3. Are they going to include all other religions and their holidays?

Wiccans have some celebrations that would certainly like equal time. We atheists tend to celebrate equinoxes and such as well. How bout the Jehovah Witnesses? Oh wait, they believe holidays are a sin... hmmm that would seem to be a problem.

Yay, the war on tolerance continues.

[autorank]

4. Well, after all, it is Bakersfield...;)

[Tempest]

5. The idea was the rightwing board member who is also a preacher

Bakersfield has one of the worst school districts in the state for academic achievement and this is the kind of crap the school board wastes time on.

[Initech]

6. Yay, more stupidity from the non-existant War On Christmas!

:woohoo:

[and-justice-for-all]

7. I prefer Pinnochio over jesus anyday...

People and their ficticous worhipping insanity...WASTE OF TIME and ENERGY.

[WinkyDink]

8. Let's be honest: THE reason for the days off from work and/or school is CHRISTMAS.

There is no other reason for a "winter break" AT, "coincidentally", THE SAME TIME.

[LWolf]

9. Er....

Sure there is. People have been taking a "break" during the coldest, darkest days of winter, and celebrating the return of the sun, etc. around that since long before christ. That's why they plopped the celebration of Jesus' birthday down in the middle of it.

People have been celebrating spring, and the renewal of life, since long before Jesus "rose," too.

Personally, I'd love a fall, winter, and spring break. I'd be happy to shorten summer break for it. During the summer, the days are long enough to have a life outside school hours. During the winter, NOT. Seasonal celebrations are universal.