[vlc] FW: Christmas Icon

[Rob Whelan]

Mr. Kempf,

I do not believe I ever stated that a Santa hat is a religious symbol.

What I did state is that it is a symbol for a specific holiday that is by
definition a Christian one.  A dradle is not a religious symbol but is used
almost exclusively to celebrate Hanukkah. We do not have the option of
inserting one of those into VLC. The choice to place this holiday in a
special place above others and then hard code that into the software is one
made by the development team.

It would be nice to be able to disable the icon.  To emphasize one religious
occasion over all others (even using a secular symbol) may not be in keeping
with good global policy.

Your response in assuming I can't read wikipedia and also telling me where
and where not others should see images that refer to religious matters is
somewhat insensitive and inappropriate for a team asking for global help in
furthering its project.

I would respectfully ask the team to reconsider its decision in this matter
and provide some means of removing references to religious occasions that
are not shared by a vast number of users around the world.


On Fri, Dec 18, 2009 at 04:23:26PM -0500, Rob Whelan wrote :
> Is there a way to remove or disable the Christian holiday Easter egg?
Many
> users (myself included) are not Christian and feel that this icon is

This is not a Christian reference.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus
and "Christians say the Santa tradition detracts from the religious
origins and purpose of Christmas."
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus#Christian_opposition

> Is there a way I can remove this icon from my viewer without having to
> recompile my own copy which is something far beyond the average user's
> ability?
No.

You shouldn't see religious references everywhere.

Best Regards,

--
Jean-Baptiste Kempf
http://www.jbkempf.com/