Jenna and Joey Roberts with Councilmember Anthony Merante.
By Dan Murphy
For many years, Rising newspapers have supported the concept of putting Christ back in Christmas, and not being afraid to wish our Christian friends and neighbors a merry Christmas, as well as wishing other friends and neighbors a happy Chanukah, and happy Kwanza, as well.
Yonkers City Councilman Anthony Merante has introduced a resolution in which the City of Yonkers refers to its annual tree-lighting ceremony as a Christmas tree lighting. The resolution calls for full respectful recognition of religious holidays by referring to them by their proper names.
By way of illustration, a “holiday” tree lighting would be referred to as a “Christmas” tree lighting, a “holiday” Menorah lighting would be referred to as a “Chanukah” Menorah lighting, and a “holiday” Kinara lighting would be referred to as a “Kwanzaa” Kinara lighting, in order to recognize the individual faith communities that gave rise to the respective celebrations and traditions that are at the heart of these events that are widely anticipated and open to everyone to appreciate and enjoy.
“There is a great deal of cultural and religious diversity in the City of Yonkers, and Yonkers is home to many houses of worship encompassing Christianity, Judaism, Islam and other faiths and beliefs,” said Merante. “I believe all religious holidays should be fully acknowledged by their proper names. Truncating or diluting them is disrespectful to their tradition. Christians celebrate Christmas with a Christmas tree. So, when doing a lighting, it should be referred to as a Christmas tree lighting in all the promotional aspects of the event.”
Merante’s legislation would impact only official City of Yonkers events and those of its departments and subsidiary agencies.
The resolution reads:
“Whereas, there is a great deal of cultural and religious diversity in the City of Yonkers, and;
“Whereas, Yonkers is home to many houses of worship encompassing Christianity, Judaism, Islam and other faiths and beliefs, and;
“Whereas, all the members of these diverse faith communities contribute to the betterment of the quality of life of every Yonkers resident and visitor, and;
“Whereas, in addition to serving the spiritual needs of their respective congregants these entities provide valuable support, counseling, charity, nutrition, outreach and other fundamental services to the Yonkers community at large, and;
“Whereas, the mayor and the City Council have always recognized and celebrated the great cultural diversity in the City of Yonkers with flag raising ceremonies, proclamations and receptions at City Hall, and;
“Whereas, similarly, the city should recognize and celebrate the great religious diversity in the City of Yonkers by acknowledging and identifying the individual nature of the various annual holiday celebrations that take place on city property or are funded, organized, sponsored or conducted by the City of Yonkers, and;
“Whereas, by way of illustration, a ‘holiday’ tree lighting would be referred to as a ‘Christmas’ tree lighting; a ‘holiday’ Menorah lighting would be referred to as a ‘Chanukah’ Menorah lighting; a ‘holiday’ Kinara lighting would be referred to as a ‘Kwanzaa’ Kinara lighting in order to recognize the individual faith communities that gave rise to the respective celebrations and traditions that are at the heart of these events that are widely anticipated and open to everyone to appreciate and enjoy;
“Now, therefore, be it resolved that the City Council of the City of Yonkers hereby recognizes and celebrates the cultural and religious diversity of the people of the City of Yonkers and encourages all city offices, agencies and boards to acknowledge and identify the individual nature of the various holiday celebrations that take place annually on city property or are funded, organized, sponsored or conducted by the city of Yonkers.”
Editor’s Note: Shortly after Merante’s resolution unanimously passed the City Council. the City of Yonkers tree lighting ceremony was called the City of Yonkers Christmas Tree lighting ceremony.
