I work at a hospital in the Washington DC Tri-state area. The name and specific location of the hospital is not important.
I will tell you this. It is a hospital that designates itself as being of Christian affiliation.
I will be working- for the first time in my life- on Christmas day.
I worked for a Catholic hospital in New Jersey some years back and there was no mistaking. The hospital was resplendant with crosses and statues and iconography especially during holy seasons like Advent and Christmas.
In the hospital where I work now, there is nothing that says Christmas in the Christmas decorations. There are no manger scenes, no paintings of baby Jesus, no angels. In fact, even the color scheme of blue and white speaks more of Judaism than Christmas (Green and Red are the traditional Christmas colors).
The stated reason for this is that there are many faith traditions in the area and that the desire is....well you know...inclusive...tolerant....respectful. Thus, you allow the secularists to force you to participate in their sterilized Christmas.
Am I being to harsh? Hardly.
Granted. Many professing Christian demoninations and sects (as the one I am employed with) are not big on icons, statues and such. That's fair. How about a big banner with a relevant scripture passage?
For unto us a child is born
~Isaiah 9
Instead, all the decorations, save 1, are distinctly non religious. Winter decorations rather than Christmas. The one, however, is a glaring contradiction.
Make no mistake, the Menorah is a religious symbol. It commemorates the religious aspect of Hannukah, the celebration of the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem.
John 10:
The anti-Christian culture is rife in the DC area especially, but also present in any government concentrated area. If a Menorah is acceptable, than a nativity scene is acceptable. Our calendar is based on the year Jesus was born even if they have re-branded it as the Common Era. The start of the CE is the birth of Jesus. No way to dispute it. So there is NO reason not to commemorate Jesus birth other than spineless administration. Even a Santa Clause can be connected to Saint Nicholas. Try pushing for that. :-)