One of the more disturbing images to come out of the Vietnam War era is the photograph that captured the self-immolation of a Buddhist monk. He was protesting the Diem regime, which was essentially a Christian theocracy that controlled South Vietnam in the beginning of America’s major involvement in the conflict.

Leading up to the event, letters were sent to the Buddhist community and the South Vietnamese government asking Diem to grant Buddhists more rights as well as lifting certain bans and other policies that were put in place to curb the spread of Buddhism. History tells us those letters were ignored, and on June 11, 1963, Thich Quang Duc arrived at a busy intersection in downtown Saigon, set himself on fire and quickly died. The image tells a lot, and quickly turned into a symbol of the anti-war movement in America.

Now fast forward to today. In late 2006, a man in California found himself protesting a decision made by school district officials. The decision appeared to have the same effect on him that the Diem regime had on Buddhist monks. What was the decision? A central California school district decided to rename its holiday breaks Christmas break and Easter break. The decision brought the Quang Duc out of one California man, who decided that setting a Christmas tree, an American flag – and ultimately himself – on fire was in order for a proper protest. Fortunately for him, authorities were able to extinguish his flaming skin before he perished and met the same fate as the Buddhist monk in Saigon.

So where did the motivation for this man’s decision come from? There is a growing movement against what some are describing as a Christian theocracy in the U.S. government. Maybe I’m biased as a Christian, but I find it hard to accept this theoretical conspiracy that has so many up in arms over a few pointless things.

Now I will be the first to admit that the decision made by the school district was probably not the wisest one it has ever made. It’s not that Christmas and Easter don’t belong in public schools, but with the many different facets of humanity populating public schools, it isn’t right to single out one religion. That said, I have one question for many of my secular peers – what’s the big deal?

I understand that it can be frustrating to see things like this take place, but is it really worth an attempted suicide to protest it? Have we really become a Christian theocracy? If so, where are all the perpetrators against the government? Where are the “Christianity-is-mandatory” signs? Where are the officers and soldiers descending on towns forcing conversions with threats of imprisonment?

Yes, sometimes there are cases like this, where a name change causes a stir or a Christmas tree in a public plaza causes some to quiver.

There are a few lights strung around campus around this time of year – so what? When was the last time an atheist was arrested for speaking out against the “religious establishment?”

If you want to see what a theocracy really looks like, go to Iran, or read about the Taliban or Diem regimes. These are the oppressive theocracies that some try to compare our government with.

Nicknames such as “Tehran on the Potomac” surface in columns accusing the Bush administration of only answering to a Christian god, and somehow, the authors are not in prison. Make a similar statement as a citizen of a real theocracy and see if you can walk down the street without receiving the death sentence.

The school district was wrong for changing the names from winter and spring breaks to Christmas and Easter.

But maybe you should be thankful that it is just the name that is in question, and think long and hard before another wacko sets himself on fire to protest “American theocracy”.