If your holiday travels take you through the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport you may notice something missing—holiday decorations. Did the Grinch descend upon the Evergreen State and steal its holiday décor? Not quite. It’s more like Captain P.C. (as in politically correct). Here’s the real story:
According to local newspapers, airport staff stripped the building of all holiday decorations, including nine large Christmas trees, rather than add a giant Jewish menorah to the holiday display as a rabbi had requested. Maintenance workers boxed up the trees during the graveyard shift early Saturday, when airport bosses believed few people would notice.
“We decided to take the trees down because we didn’t want to be exclusive,” said an airport spokeswoman. “We’re trying to be thoughtful and respectful, and will review policies after the first of the year.”
According to news reports, the rabbi, who made his request weeks ago, said he was appalled by the decision. He told reporters he had hired a lawyer and threatened to sue if the Port of Seattle didn’t add the menorah next to the trees, which were erected weeks ago and were decorated with red ribbons and bows.
“Everyone should have their spirit of the holiday. For many people the trees are the spirit of the holidays, and adding a menorah adds light to the season,” said the rabbi.
Port of Seattle officials say after consulting with their own lawyers, they believed that “adding the menorah would have required adding symbols for other religions and cultures in the Northwest.” Basically they maintained that by adding the menorah it would have in essence opened the floodgates for other religious groups to add their own requests regarding what types of holiday decorations should be displayed. According to port officials: “The holidays are the busiest season at the airport and staff didn’t have time to play cultural anthropologists.”
What do you think about the holiday decoration brouhaha brewing in Seattle?
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