The nation's Capital has recovered some sanity today, renaming the "Holiday" tree the Nation's "Christmas tree". In the wake of the Boston "Holiday tree" debacle, this is a good thing. At least somewhere people are willing to recognize that it's Christmas! It's not a Jewish tradition, or a Muslim tradition, or a Buddhist tradition. It's a German Christian tradition, popularize when Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert (German-born) brought the tradition over from Germany when he married the young Queen. It quickly spread throughout Britian and America, especially with the tide of German immigrants that came here in the 19th and 20th centuries. It's a Christmas Tree--"O Tannenbaum" does not translate to "O Holiday Tree" (at least as far as I know--My German's not all that functional). I mean, a menorah is not a "holiday candlelabra" or something equally horrific. It's a menorah. Clearly Jewish. Clearly symbolic of something in their faith. Not that a Christmas tree is really symbolic of anything specific in Christianity, but it's still a Christian tradition. Either buy into it, or don't have one. Thank you. :)
UPDATE: The city of Boston has since renamed their tree a "Christmas tree", after a loud reaction from the city (and the tree supplier) to their attempt to name it a "holiday tree". Good job, Boston.
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Because I feel like I should respond to the German translation :-), "O Tannenbaum" technically translates to "O Fir Tree." But, I totally agree - it's a Christmas tree. Actually, a kinda interesting thing - in the US, office parties in December are usually called "Holiday Parties" now - but in Germany, our lab is having a party called a "Weihnachtsfeier" - translated, "Christmas party"! Yea!
Thank you Andrea. :) This is why I love my friends...they are a wealth of knowledge. :)
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