Cease-fire reached in Christmas tree war

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Last Sunday, after Mass in a Catholic church not yet decorated for Christmas, I went home and put the finishing touches on my tree.

I call it a Christmas tree. For my family, Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus. It is that, and also all of this: a time for family gatherings and busy days and nights of shopping, cooking, wrapping, gift-giving and partying.

Anyway, my tree is up. So are the trees at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Adorned with ribbons and lights, they were back up Monday night after being removed for two days in a controversy worthy of a gold star for divisiveness.

You couldn’t miss Sea-Tac’s rapid evolution from hectic holiday way station to ground zero in the so-called war on Christmas. In short, Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky asked that a Hanukkah menorah also be displayed. The Port of Seattle, which runs the airport, feared a lawsuit. The trees disappeared.

The immediate response was predictably furious. Port officials said the rabbi never called for the trees’ removal. The rabbi said no lawsuit was in the works. And the port promised to explore a more inclusive way to celebrate.

Take a breath. I know you’re angry. Everyone was angry. Christmas trees mean many things to many people. Their origin isn’t Christian but pagan. Christmas greenery is a vestige of winter festivals celebrated before Christianity came to northern Europe.

A case could be made that Christmas trees are religious symbols. But raising a stink over them serves only to escalate what cable TV pundits call the culture war.

When it comes to holiday decor, Christians have much in common with nonbelievers.

Ron Renard of Everett is a member of Humanists of North Puget Sound. The nonprofit group promotes a philosophy based on reason, science and the notion that people are responsible for their own ethical conduct.

An atheist, Renard grew up in the Presbyterian church but said he never believed in a supreme being. Asked about the Sea-Tac trees, Renard said, “Personally, I have no problem with them.”

“I’m putting a Christmas tree up. My wife and I put up lights, too,” said Renard, 57, who plans to attend a winter solstice banquet. Like-minded humanists will enjoy poinsettias, evergreens, candles and other seasonal decor. Remember, pagans were the first to deck the halls.

“People just need a little more common sense,” Renard said. “Many times I say ‘Merry Christmas.’ It means a generic ‘Happy Holidays.’ It makes people happy.”

In Everett, I’m happy to see a new tree suspended over the intersection of Hewitt and Colby avenues. In 2005, that downtown spot was treeless.

Kate Reardon, spokeswoman for the city, said a year ago that the artificial tree used for at least a decade was “just getting old” and couldn’t withstand another season in the wind and weather.

“This year we have a new tree. It’s a little bit bolder and brighter, and reflects the spirit of the community a little better,” Reardon said Monday. The city also has evergreen sprays on its decorative light posts and garland on the metal structure above Colby and Hewitt.

“The idea is to create a sense of place and allow the community a more festive winter around here,” she said. “All year, white lights decorate the trees up and down Colby, creating a warm, inviting place for people to walk and to be.”

Who’d argue against lighting up winter’s dreary darkness? A bright tree is perfectly appropriate downtown. I wouldn’t support a Nativity scene in a public place. There’s plenty of space for religion in our homes, hearts and churches – if religion is important to us and we make the space.

That said, I haven’t changed my mind about the Ten Commandments monument on city property outside the Everett Police Department. I don’t think it belongs there.

In 2005, after two years of legal fighting, a federal judge ruled that the monument poses no threat to religious freedom and can stay. The case is before the U.S. Court of Appeals, Reardon said. “We have not heard when, or whether, oral argument before the court is scheduled,” she said.

Please, not now. How about a holiday cease-fire in the culture war?

Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com.