Quote:
Originally Posted by blankall
It sounds like they are drawing a line between "Tradition" and religion. The article states, under the new laws, its okay to have a Christmas party, but you can't, for example, mention baby Jesus. I'm not entirely sure how that is supposed to work in practice. For example, could you light candles on a Menorah but just not talk about why you are doing it or say a prayer? Obviously, these rules only apply to public spaces, so you can do whatever you want in your home.
The major issue is that the province of Quebec was formed in a time when Christianity dominated and "tolerance" wasn't a practiced concept. So a lot these "traditions" are just Christianity.
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And a lot of "Christian" traditions are just taken from other cultures, ceremonies and practices. I don't see anything in the bible about decorating a Christmas tree.
If you are lighting candles on a Menorah you are displaying a religious symbol, so I assume even if you didn't discuss why, it still won't be permitted.
And to link the two thoughts, I light a Menorah every year, but for me it's a tradition, not a religious item at all. So it could be argued that really almost any object can be presented as tradition, not a religious object, depending on the individual and how they experience it. Which makes it tough to write a law banning. Which I guess is what the NWC is in play.