NJ.com – by Mike DavisROBBINSVILLE — Robbinsville Mayor David Fried today declared in an open letter to township residents that he would proudly hold a “Christmas” tree lighting ceremony and criticized any politically correct or secular terms for the event.
A secular “tree lighting ceremony” had been advertised for the township, but Fried said he was upset the township could identify the “Hanukkah Menorah” and not the Christmas tree.
“This is just not right,” Fried said. “We can say we have a Menorah, a Jewish religious symbol, but for some reason we can’t call our tree what it is – a Christmas tree, which is not even a religious symbol. The tree is a symbol of the Christmas celebration.”
Robbinsville is hosting the Christmas tree and Menorah lighting celebration Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at The Greenes at Foxmoor on Washington Boulevard.
The township originally advertised the event as a Christmas tree and Menorah lighting, but over the years, the religious connotations from the ceremony were gradually removed. It became a “Holiday Tree Celebration” and eventually its current “Tree Lighting Ceremony.”
“Freedom of religion should mean we are free to celebrate whatever religion each citizen wishes to celebrate,” Fried said, quoting the U.S. Constitution. “It should mean we embrace all religions and ‘the free exercise thereof” in all parts of our lives, just as we embrace all cultures in other aspects of our society.”
He said that township officials took part in a Hindu celebration at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir temple on North Main Street. Public schools were closed on Sept. 5 in celebration of Rosh Hashanah.
Fried’s announcement comes one week after Assemblyman Ronald Dancer (R-Plumsted) introduced legislation that would allow schools to put up religious holiday displays, educate students about holidays and sing holiday songs provided that more than one religion are represented.
“That is what America should be about,” Fried said. “I want to go back to the days when we could say ‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘Happy Hanukkah’ and not be scorned, or forced to ignore the fact that there are people celebrating those religious events during this most special time of the year.”
RIGHT ON!!!
“That is what America should be about,” Fried said. “I want to go back to the days when we could say ‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘Happy Hanukkah’ and not be scorned, or forced to ignore the fact that there are people celebrating those religious events during this most special time of the year.”
I want to go back to the days we could say ‘Merry Christmas’…. huh?
Mho, if Fred thought he couldn’t say Merry Christmas and didn’t because he thought he would be scorned or forced to ignore the fact that people celebrate, sounds like he helped create this/his issue.