In New York City schools, kids are learning Rs: reading, writing, and Ramadan. Thanks to the far-Left priorities of Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), city schools have added two Muslim holidays to the school calendar — a concession that took even Big Apple parents by surprise. While the largest religion in the country fights to even be recognized, “NYC schools will now close for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha — making (it) the largest school district in the nation to recognize the two holidays on the official school calendar.”
Although families already had the option of taking excused absences for these days, Mayor de Blasio took it upon himself to close school for 1.1 million students in the single largest display of political correctness the district has ever seen. While the city is busy overcompensating the barely 2% of the city’s population, it insists on robbing Christians of the simple acknowledgement of its two biggest holy days: Christmas and Easter. Instead it scrubs the calendar of any reference, replacing them as “winter break” and “spring break.” Public schools may not be religious, officials argue, but they can legally accommodate students to practice their faith. That’s interesting — because most public schools have a serious problem accommodating Christians. This is nothing but exclusion for inclusion’s sake.
The reality is, America wasn’t founded on Muslim principles — but Christian ones. Our identity is rooted in the deep tradition and ideals of the same Bible that schools are so anxious to expel. In New York or anywhere, this should never be about pushing a politically correct agenda. It’s about honoring America’s cultural and Christian heritage. That doesn’t mean ignoring other religions — but it also doesn’t mean surrendering our identity to a small minority either.
Tony Perkins heads the Family Research Council. This article is excerpted from the Washington Update that he compiles for the FRC.
