The "Christmas Tree Crisis" at Sea-Tac Airport

The Christmas trees that appeared each year in the Seattle-Tacoma Airport, some said, were a “tradition.” The fake but festive trees, decorated in red ribbons, were brought out of storage and put on display during one of the busiest times of the travel season. When the airport authorities received a complaint about the display’s lack of inclusiveness, with a request to add a menorah, it went unanswered. When this was followed with a threat of legal action, the trees were swiftly returned to storage in the middle of the night. The removal of the Christmas trees, covered in the news with rhetoric about “the Grinch,” was followed by a flood of hateful emails to the local Jewish community. The original request, which was not to remove the trees but to add a menorah, was swiftly withdrawn. Soon the trees returned, along with a newly appointed Holiday Decorations Advisory Committee to consider future displays. The committee was now charged with making a decision: Should they display all, some, or none of the local religious traditions? What should the holiday display look like? What are the implications of making a change to this “tradition”?

The complete, updated case is included in the volume Pluralism in Practice.