I REALLY GET INCENSED WHEN I READ OR LISTEN TO STORIES AT THIS TIME OF THE YEAR IN
THE VARIOUS MEDIA OUT THERE ABOUT INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS OPPOSED TO CHRISTMAS DISPLAYS IN PUBLIC AREAS IN THEIR TOWN.
By; Edwin L. Crammer CPA :Crammer’s Opinion – You may say, “Why do you care about whether Christmas displays are displayed in public area or not as you are not a Christian. But I do care. I respect all faiths and their right to express their religion as long as it is not in my face.
Putting up a Crèche or a Nativity scene in a public square or park for a few weeks each year does not bother me. Christmas is a time when people of the Christian faith express their joy at this time of the year. To place these displays in a public place is not an affront to me or my family.
I have always been told to respect people of all faiths and to treat them as equals. Recognizing this fact I have always been treated with respect by many individuals from all of the faiths that have come across my path. In virtue of that fact, in my Accounting practice I have a number of clients of the Hindu or Muslim faiths, who know what my religious belief is but still continue to use my services year after year as they know I will treat them no different than my other clients of my faith or the Christian faith. I used to have a landlord for my business establishment who was Muslim. My wife and I broke bread with him often in a restaurant or in his home with his wife who was quite religious.
When I was younger and lived in the New York area, I enjoyed the many ways the businesses and individuals celebrated the Christmas season in the City. Every year, my family would travel into the city to gape at the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. From there we would travel a few blocks to the Radio City Music Hall to enjoy the program that was presented in that theater at that time of the year.
Back in those days the Radio City Music Hall offered one motion picture, which at that time of the year had some type of Christmas theme, followed by a stage presentation with a Christmas theme. The Christmas show always ended with a re-creation of the events leading up to the birth of Christ. The show was practically the same every year but my family and I enjoyed it anyway.
Although I worked in the City, I lived in New Jersey. Every day I commuted to the city through the Port Authority Bus Terminal. During the Christmas period at the end of each day I would enter the terminal on the way to the bus that would take me home to New Jersey.
During the Christmas season, each day during the afternoon commute, they would have a choir in the terminal performing Christmas songs for the passing crowd. When I would pass by this group of singers, I would always pause for a few minutes to enjoy some of the songs that the group was performing before moving on to the place where my bus left for New Jersey.
In recent years I cannot wait for the Christmas light show to open up in Trade winds park in Fort Lauderdale. I cannot wait for Santa to show up in the various venues down here. The best one as far as I am concerned is the one at the Outdoor World in Dania. I have been taking my grandchildren to their Santa for the last four years. We try to get their early as the lines can get quite long as you get closer to Christmas.
I do not have a Christmas tree in my house as Christmas is not my holiday. I do resent however, people of my faith who put up a Christmas tree in their home, calling it a “Hanukah Bush.” It is my belief that doing that is an affront to my religion.
As I have said I respect people of all religious faiths. What I do not respect is people of other religions getting in my face and telling me how good their religion is and I should consider accepting it for my beliefs.
Several years ago, I was in a shopping mall in Las Vegas when a young couple approached me. The male came up to me and said: “Have you found Jesus yet?” My smug answer to him was: “I did not know he was missing”. Now some of you may resent my answer to the young man but how would it be, if I approached him and made some remark promoting my religion. See what I mean. In this country the Constitution gives everyone the right to practice their religion in their own way, and that should be the way it should be. Enough said.
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EACH YEAR AT THIS TIME MY OFFICE PREPARES AND DISTRIBUTES A YEAR END TAX NEWSLETTER TO ALL OF OUR CLIENTS. This year I am going to make this newsletter available to all of the readers of this column. The newsletter is seven pages of interesting timely Tax and Accounting information that may help you in preparing your 2013 Income tax returns both business and personal.
Just e-mail me at: Ed@www.eyeonsouthflorida.com and say ” Please send me a copy of your newsletter”. I will forward a copy to you upon receipt. No cost or obligation. I do not even need your name. My office will not contact you. Thank you for reading my column this year.
To contact Edwin L. Crammer, e-mail him at Ed@www.eyeonsouthflorida.com
Did You Know? SFL
