Freethought Solstice Cards Ready for Holidays

11 11 2008

“May the bright light of human reason
illuminate the nights
of your solstice season.”

The North Texas Church of Freethought is proud to offer you a secular alternative for your holiday card needs this year.

Our resident artist Brad Watson contributed a beautiful oil painting for the front image, and you can now purchase these cards from our CafePress site.

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2 responses

18 12 2008
JJ (15:38:47) :

Cock of the snook to Pharyngula for a post with a PZ-worthy head, “Jingo Bells”:

We also have a clear-cut court decision from the federal judicial system, Ganulin v. United States. O’Reilly is going to be pained to learn this, but legally, he isn’t getting Christmas off because he’s a Christian. It’s a secular holiday in the US.

Courts have repeatedly recognized that the Christmas holiday has become largely secularized. …By giving federal employees a paid vacation day on Christmas, the government is doing no more than recognizing the cultural significance of the holiday.

18 12 2008
JJ (16:14:05) :

Teacher Magazine in a take-off on Tom Friedman’s ideas:

‘Tis the Season for Teaching Globally

Since President-elect Obama has weighed in on college football’s Bowl Championship Series by calling for a playoff system with a clear winner, I wonder if he might do the same to help resolve the conflict schools face in deciding which holiday tradition they should acknowledge and which to teach about. I am guessing the president-elect would take the opportunity to educate us by breaking down the proverbial walls in our schools and teach them all.

Thomas Friedman in his new book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded, cautions against this post-9/11 American fortress mentality. Instead, he advocates openness and demands that America break free from its “defensive crouch” to “tap the vast rivers of idealism, innovation, volunteerism, and philanthropy that still flow through our nation.”

Schools need to do the same. Instead of avoiding the holidays and hunkering down into a bunker mentality, in an effort to be sensitive to all, schools need to be bold and embrace the opportunity to deepen understanding of our families and communities.

The holiday or winter concert often calls up strong feelings in a school community. School music conductors labor over song choice and dread the day they release the song list to the community. Not surprisingly, consensus is impossible. . .

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