No Christmas trees at Sea-Tac this year
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free skin care · Sat Dec 01, 2007 12:53 pm

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003961584_holidaydisplay19m.html

For those of you who may not remember, last year there was a huge controversy when a rabbi in Seattle demanded Sea-Tac airport put up menorahs along side their Xmas trees. Sea-Tac was threatened with a lawsuit if it didn't comply, and so it just took the Christmas trees down to avoid being sued by the rabbi. I believe eventually the trees went back up because the public was so upset, but this year to try to avoid the controversy they are avoiding any kind of holiday decorations and instead displaying some sort of generic "winter scene". While the display looks lovely from what I can tell, I have to admit that I'm afraid this is the first step down a slippery slope here in the US. Are my kids going to be able to enjoy the same sense of magic during the holidays that I always did, where everywhere you go there are beautifully decorated trees, springs of mistletoe hung in doorways, and Santa and his reindeer just around the corner, or is Christmas going to get completely obliterated from the public sphere in the name of "equality" and "being politically correct?" I'll be the first to admit: travelling during the holidays is hectic and stressful, and I look to the Christmas trees and lights on houses, etc for a little boost. How sad if we get to a point where these sorts of things are no longer allowed!

free skin care · Sun Dec 02, 2007 12:27 pm

No worries, Liz. I live in Seattle, and let me tell you, you can't walk anywhere without being hit over the head with Christmas decorations, lights, songs, etc. So I wouldn't worry that kids today won't get their share of Christmas fun. In fact, since it seems to start around late October nowadays (at least in stores), they get a lot more of it than when I was a kid!

free skin care · Sun Dec 02, 2007 2:55 pm

Yep, I can vouch for that. The Macy's star is up and the Christmas music is chirping. I can't really speak much to the political and religious controversy -- I'm what I call an apathetic atheist, and while I agree that the holiday decoration magic is something I love, I don't feel strongly about what sort of decorations go up, as long as there's something pretty and festive to enjoy.

I don't love hearing that something as simple as decoration is getting this politicized, but then again, I can see where the rabbi and other non-Christians might be upset by the décor being exclusively Christmas-oriented (never mind that decorating a tree is a pagan tradition and that Jesus was born sometime in March according to most religious historians...)

I'm just happy when Downtown Seattle gets lit up with nice pretty white, non-controversial, non-denominational lights on all the trees, hehe. We're putting up a tree for the first time in YEARS in our apartment, since this is our first winter as an official household together, and neither my boyfriend nor I are particularly religious, but it definitely does add some magic to the season. I hope travelers manage to find their magic wherever they can!

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