Wisconsin Capitol Building's "Holiday Tree"

[skylark]

I guess I am just really sympathetic to religious minorities, especially around the holidays when everyone tends to get so "in your face" about celebrating christmas and if you don't celebrate it, then your lives should revolve around others who do. I mean, I certainly there are definitely worse things in the world, but I think it wouldn't kill us to make our society a little more friendly to people of any religion simply because that is what we would want if we were in their position.

Some factors I think that would make me feel isolated, uncomfortable, and just more difficult as a religious minority would be:
- having to use half my vacation time every year to celebrate my own religious holidays, while having to take random days off to honor religions that I don't celebrate.
- working or having to frequently visit a government building and listening to religious songs by carolers and having to walk by christian religious symbols every day.
- watching the media honor christian religious holidays with special programming every year while ignoring minority religions.
- being told "merry christmas" by every sales person for about a month every year and having them look offended at me if I don't return the sentiment or (gasp) say something like "happy hannukah" or "happy kwanzaa."
- watching my tax dollars spent on things that honor christian holidays (vacation of government employees, government christmas trees and nativity sets, government statues and other decorations that display christian biblical things, etc.)

(note: not all of these things I think can be solved, but I think that they are things to consider in possibly doing something symbolic that might really make someone feel more included ... like putting up a friggin menorah or other religions' symbols as ornaments on a "holiday" tree that taxpayers of all religions pay for.)