Who here has heard the recent fervor over a Christmas tree at the Seattle airport in Washington? Raise your hand. Speak loudly as you ooh ooh to get picked on. Better yet, chime in with comments instead.
In case you haven’t heard Seattle’s airport has taken down it’s Christmas trees thanks to being threaten with a lawsuit. The lawsuit of all things was from a Rabbi (did I spell that right?). Who wanted to have a menorah put up next to the tree. It wasn’t a just a request, but a request with a threatening of a lawsuit. The airport decided to take an approach that makes sense, to just take the trees down.
The reasoning behind it is quite sound. They felt if every culture suddenly wanted to be represented it would create a much bigger problem. So rather than waste public funds and tax dollars on dealing with litigation, they removed the “offensive” items.
The Rabbi in question was interviewed and posted on CNN. In the interview he states that the removal of the trees was not his intention. It’s funny that he felt compelled to threaten with a lawsuit. I mean c’mon, what did you think would happen? There’s three options: One, the airport would ignore the request and take on the lawsuit. Two, the airport would allow the menorah, but then have to open to many more religions. Three, the airport could take down the trees and avoid it all. The Rabbi apparently only saw option two. He probably figured that the threat of a lawsuit would be enough for someone to just give in.
That’s certainly the American spirit: sue! And get your way. Or in this case, make everyone’s life a little less cheery.
Never fear, I’m here to fulfill a little gap with an instrumental version of O Come All Ye Faithful. I heard this version about a year and a half ago and just dug it. If you can’t tell, it’s Celtic. One thing I like about the Celtic music influence is the beats and the grooves. Lots and lots of triplet times. Which to me can be very flowing and rich.
I’ve never heard of Eric Darken outside of this song, but I’ll bet you’re enjoying it to. No matter what your faith is. Show Eric some lovin’ and purchase the song.
(** Disclaimer: If Eric’s label decides to threathen with tithing for the recording I’ve already purchased, I’ll kindly take down the audio like the airport took down the trees. The post will remain to show how silly it is to use your religion to threaten others. **)