Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
I am Jewish.
I said that because I do feel that any religious category will be possibly an issue. I don't want to read any Christmas related works. It could be taken as offensive.
MR has a separate section just for religion and politics and it has to be opted in for access. This is done for a reason. That reason is so we don't bring religious and political discussions to other threads/forums. So based on this, I feel that a Christmas based category should not be allowed on the basis of MR rules.
The December holidays are mostly religious. So unless we are going to read about Boxing Day and other non-religious holidays, MR rules would tell us that a religious discussion does not belong in the Book Club.
And just to say, I do find I am offended to have a Christmas based category in the voting even if it doesn't win.
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I'm not Christian either and I don't mind it, though I do come from a Christian background so I think I may mind a Christmas category less than people of other religions.
That said, I think you do have a point. When I was considering nominating the category I was purposely going to call it "Holiday" to include books from holidays of any religions and non-religious holidays (and even holidays in any month). It probably would've been mostly Christmas nominations, but it probably would have had nominations from other holidays and religions too which could've been pretty interesting.
I don't agree with you about holiday books being off-limits because they are "religious" though. Many aren't really religious honestly, any more than books that includes holidays or references to God or a religion (which is most non-sci-fi/fantasy fiction) are "religious" and off-limits. The P&R forum is to
debate politics and religion and discuss more inflammatory subjects, not to stick anything or any book that has anything at all to do with the general concept of or a passing reference to politics or religion.
I do see that a "Christmas" category could be seen as a bit exclusionary though even though it's dominant in Western culture in December. While I wouldn't mind it, I also wouldn't mind a "Hanukkah" category or a "Kwanzaa" category (in fact, it'd be very interesting to see what nominations would come out of those categories!).