Dec 23, 2003
December 23, 2003
Becket Fund's "Ebenezer Award" goes to New York School System
Menorahs are okay; the star and crescent are okay; crèche is a no-no
The New York City public school system has been declared the winner of the 2003 Ebenezer Award, the Becket Fund's most undistinguished "honor." It is bestowed each year on the individual or group responsible for the most ridiculous affront to the Christmas and Hanukkah holidays.
New York school policy allows the display of Jewish Menorahs and the Muslim star and crescent, but not a Christian nativity scene. "New York school officials have managed to insult just about everybody with their policy," Becket Fund President Kevin J. Hasson said today. "They doubly insult Christians, both by banning a crèche in the first place, and by arguing — in federal court documents — that the depiction of the birth of Christ does not represent a historical event. They insult Jews by deciding that the only way to allow display of a Menorah is to define it as a ‘secular' symbol. And just for good measure, they insult Muslims by putting the star and crescent into the same ‘secular' category."
"It's not often that public officials come up with a way to insult every major monotheistic religious tradition in America in a single policy declaration, but the endlessly creative bureaucrats at the New York City public school system have pulled it off," Hasson declared. "They had plenty of competition for this year's Ebenezer Award, but won it going away."
The Ebenezer Award is a specially designed Christmas stocking filled with lumps of coal. Previous winners include Virginia Beach, Virginia, which tried to shut down "Mothers Inc.," a Christian charity that provides Christmas food, toys, clothing and other items to the needy; the city of Kensington, Maryland, which disinvited Santa Claus from its annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony; and the city manager of Eugene, Oregon, who banned Christmas trees from any "public space" in his city.
Previous Ebenezer Award "winners" —