With winter rolling in, millions prepare for the holiday season. However, as these festivities begin, it is evident that not all holidays are treated the same. The United States was founded on religious freedom and equality for those religions, however, some religious holidays are given more attention and benefits than others. The issue is that non-Christan holidays are not being treated with equal respect or representation as Christian holidays.
While many Christian holidays are recognized as public holidays, including Christmas, Easter, and Good Friday, many other non-Christian religious holidays are not. Christmas is given two weeks off for students, and companies are required to allow employees time off to celebrate. However, non-Christian holidays are not given these same benefits. For example, Eid is a very important Muslim holiday celebrated by about 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide. While America has a large Muslim population, about 4 million people, Muslim holidays are not given time off. Recently, Diwali, a festival of lights that celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, passed on a Monday. Even though Diwali is supposed to be a festival celebrated with one’s family, many of my personal friends had to go to school in order to not miss assignments or receive absences. Considering the melting pot that the US prides itself on being, certain religious holidays should not be nationally recognized over others. This disregard for other religious holidays should not be shown by the US government. These preferences can be harmful to non-Christians who are growing up in a country where their religious holidays are not represented to an equal extent, and could negatively impact children of non-Christian faiths. Instead of spending time with their families during the holidays, they are forced to go to school or work, as it is not seen as a public holiday. Recognizing certain holidays as public holidays and ignoring other holidays is disrespectful and ignorant of religious and cultural diversity within the United States. Schools and workplaces should not only recognize non-Christian holidays but accommodate vacation days for non-Christian staff and students. Students and employees should not feel pressure to choose between religion and possibly missing work or having repercussions. Wanting to simply celebrate one’s faith should not create disadvantages in any way.
I asked some of my non-Christian peers about what their experience has been regarding choosing between religion and school. Vrinda Mahajan states “When I knew that I was essentially being punished for staying home, it made me feel like my religious obligations were less respected than my peers, who had a more ‘common’ religion.” Ummaya Babar continues those feelings of not being able to celebrate her religious holidays, saying “I didn’t feel like I belonged. With Christmas, everybody can relate to each other. With me, when I tell people I can’t go to school because of a religious holiday, I feel ostracized. For example, my cousin last year had an exam that she couldn’t reschedule, causing her to miss a religious holiday. This made her feel like her religion wasn’t important. Holidays are something to look forward to, but having to choose between celebrating these special events and going to school ruins those happy moments.” Coco Austin describes the struggles of school versus religion, saying “My parents did not let me take off school for Muslim holidays citing that God would rather I study. There is a disparity in our beliefs of what God would want for me. He would want me to eat food all day.”
What can be done to better these inequalities? Appreciation of unfamiliar religious holidays is a start to better the American people’s awareness and understanding of religious practices different from theirs. Being respectful of other people’s religious celebrations is very important in creating a better, more equal holiday season. Along with that, the United States government should not be able to choose which religious holidays should be celebrated nationally without giving those same benefits to other religious practices.