The War on Christmas

Because "public life" now entails virtually every part of our lives, erasing references to God entirely from public life means virtually eliminating them from America. Imagine, if you will, a gala birthday party given in your honor. The guests will sing, dance, give presents, eat, drink, and have the merriest of times. The hitch: your name will not be mentioned, the gifts will not be for you, the celebrants won't be thinking about you, and everyone would sort of prefer that you not come. That's all that will be left of Christmas if various groups have their way. All across the country, this year as in the past several years, there has been a concerted drive to remove all vestiges of Christianity from the celebration of Christ's birthday. For example:

• Public schools increasingly call Christmas vacation something like "winter break."

• Students and teachers are discouraged or prohibited from wishing each other "Merry Christmas," preferring "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings" instead.

• Public-school Christmas programs, er, pardon me, "winter programs," go heavy on "Frosty the Snowman" and "Deck the Halls," but the traditional Christmas carols are censored.

• Retail store employees are instructed to wish their customers "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings" rather than "Merry Christmas."

• Retail catalogs tout their goods as perfect for "the season" but avoid mentioning Christ or Christmas.

• Christmas cards, if I may call them that, wish our friends the "joys of the season" but commonly omit the "Reason for the season."

• Public buildings such as city halls, fire and police departments, etc., feature holiday displays with holly, reindeer, and candy canes, but no manger scenes and no Baby Jesus.

These practices are far from universal. But they are increasing, and they are part of a concerted drive to cleanse the public arena from any and all vestiges of America's Judeo-Christian heritage.

Sometimes this is done by public officials who are themselves hostile to Christianity and the Bible. But I would like to think most are motivated by other considerations. Sometimes officials secularize the public arena because they don't want to offend anyone, and somehow they think they can avoid giving offense by reducing the holiday observance to the lowest common denominator. We need to remind these officials that we are offended when our heritage is stripped of its meaning. Secularism is also a belief system.

We must remember that the public sector has grown exponentially while the private sector has shrunk. Today the public arena is the main forum for the dissemination and discussion of ideas and issues: public elementary and secondary schools, public universities, public streets, public parks, public civic centers, public museums, public airwaves, and the like. The public arena has become the primary forum for the battle of ideas. If religious ideas are prohibited in the public arena but secular ideas are permitted, then religious expression and religious viewpoints are placed at a distinct disadvantage.

Other officials naively capitulate to the argument that the First Amendment mandates an absolute separation of church and state, and therefore any and all public religious observances are unconstitutional. In fact, the federal courts have said no such thing. In Florey v. Sioux Falls Independent School District, 619 F.2d 1311 (8th Cir. 1980), the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that public-school Christmas programs can include sacred carols so long as they are a balanced part of a general holiday observance. In Lynch v. Donnelly, 405 U.S. 668 (1984), the Supreme Court held that a nativity scene in front of a fire station in Nantucket, Rhode Island, did not violate the First Amendment. However, in County of Allegheny v. ACLU of Pittsburgh, 492 U.S. 573 (1989), the Supreme Court held 5-4 that a manger scene was unconstitutional but that a Jewish menorah did not violate the First Amendment. The court rationalized its decision by observing that the manger scene stood alone as an endorsement of Christianity, while the menorah was part of a general holiday display that included both sacred and secular symbols.

Now, almost all Americans believe in religious freedom, and hardly anyone in this country wants an established state church. But the pilgrims did not come to this country to get away from prayers at football games, and most Americans today do not believe a manger scene or a Christmas carol in the public arena constitutes an establishment of religion.

However, in recent years radical separationists have argued that a public religious practice or public display of a religious symbol endorses the religion of the majority and communicates a message to the minority that they are excluded from full participation in the life of the nation. In Glassroth v. Moore, the challenge to the Ten Commandments monument in the Alabama Judicial Building was based on the fact that the plaintiffs at times had to do business in the Judicial Building, that as they walked across the rotunda they might see the monument, and that this is offensive to them. But where does the Constitution say that I will never have to see anything that offends me? I am offended by the sculpture of Themis, the Greek goddess of law and justice, that stands in front of the federal court building in Montgomery. I am offended by markers erected with my tax dollars that tell my children the Earth is billions of years old or that certain hills and valleys were formed hundreds of millions of years ago. I am offended by public use of profanity and vulgarity. But exposure to that which offends us is part of the price we pay for living in a free society.

Syndicated columnist Don Feder describes himself as "a religious Jew who wants to put Christ back in Christmas." He says, "As a lad, I was bemused by a billboard sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, which urged the public to 'Keep Christ in Christmas.' I considered the appeal superfluous, as I could not conceive of the holiday devoid of Jesus." He adds that he's "entirely comfortable" with the concept of a Christian America, because "the morality of Christianity, though not necessarily its theology, is my morality. After all, Christians got their values from my Bible."

As the "War on Christmas" continues, some are fighting back. Bill O'Reilly of Fox News has produced and is distributing "We Say MERRY CHRISTMAS" stickers for display on bumpers and in store windows. The American Family Association has circulated a questionnaire among leading retailers asking whether they intend to observe Christmas in their advertising, in their decorations, and in the way they instruct their sales personnel to talk with customers. The answers, as they come in, are posted on AFA's website.

Like Fred Gaily, the attorney who defended Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street, others are defending Christmas in court. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty persuaded a federal judge in Cincinnati to dismiss a lawsuit that claimed that giving government employees a Christmas holiday is an unconstitutional establishment of religion. The Becket Fund also successfully represented nine-year-old Jonathan Morgan after Texas school officials prohibited him from bringing candy canes to a class Christmas party because the canes contained a religious message.

As in previous years, the Alliance Defense Fund has launched its Christmas Project, featuring lapel pins that say "Merry Christmas. It's ok to say it." ADF sends out literature to public schools countering ACLU propaganda and explaining what the courts have permitted and prohibited concerning Christmas in the public arena. And they have successfully represented a Tennessee woman who was allowed to set up a nativity scene at a library but was then told she had to remove "inappropriate" figures such as Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the Wise Men. The ADF forced Georgia school officials to back down from a policy prohibiting teachers from referring to celebrations as "Christmas parties," and they persuaded Illinois school officials to reinsert traditional carols into a school Christmas program after those officials, following erroneous advice, had ordered their removal.

For 2,000 years, the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ have been the central events of human history. Let us keep Christmas in our hearts, our homes, and the public square. To defend against the War on Christmas, let us each take the following steps:

• Choose your Christmas cards carefully, concentrating on the message. Don't buy cards that just use that bubbleheaded phrase "Seasons Greetings," no matter how attractive they may be. And to have greater effect, tell the store manager why you're not buying those cards.

• Find out what stores instruct their sales personnel not to say "Merry Christmas." Don't patronize those stores, and tell the store managers why you refuse to shop there. Likewise, give positive reinforcement to those stores that do honor Christmas.

• At gatherings where Christmas songs are sung, to the extent that you have a voice, urge the singing of the traditional carols. And if those carols are sung, I wouldn't object to a mix that includes nontraditional songs like "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" or even (gaahh!) "Please, Santa Baby."

• If you see situations in which you believe the Christmas message is unfairly censored, seek the advice of Christian legal defense organizations like the Alliance Defense Fund (alliancedefensefund.org, 800/TELL ADF), the Becket Fund (becketfund.org, 202-955-0098), or the Foundation for Moral Law (morallaw.org, 334-262-1245). And as you plan your year-end charitable giving, these organizations are worthy of your support.

• Without going out of our way to be offensive, let us proudly and joyfully say Merry Christmas to all. And for our friends of a different faith, it's fine to add something like, "And Happy Hanukkah as well."

John Eidsmoe, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, is a professor at the Oak Brook College of Law & Government Policy and serves as legal counsel for the Foundation for Moral Law.

Here’s my letter to the editor about a shopping center in the newspaper’s area. I hope they print it.

“Dear Editor:

My husband and I went to the shopping mall, and as we walked by so many stores, we did not see the acknowledgement of Christmas anywhere. No “Merry Christmas,” no “Joy to the World,” not even Christmas presents.

It was as if the word Christmas did not even exist, only “Happy Holidays,” or not even that.

There was the lovely display at the mall with Santa Claus, but no “Merry Christmas” there, either.

But I am happy to say that the nice lady who cut my hair at the mall wished me a “Merry Christmas.” And I hope I see a letter to the editor from other readers telling me that the stores they walked by, or visited, included “Christmas” in this “Christmas” season. It was nice to come home and see the Nativity Scene dispayed when we drove up our own driveway.

It’s OK to say “Merry Christmas.” Approximately 95% of Americans celebrate Christmas.

Merry Christmas!”

nobody wants to be forced to keep Christmas if that’s not part of their religion. Kids shouldn’t be punished in public school if they don’t sing Christmas carols or pray to Jesus and there used to be a time when they were.

But to have a problem with merely being exposed to everyone else celebrating their holiday? That’s not just unfair to everyone else. You are denying reality by living in such a bubble. Your kids will be so weak if they can’t even pass by a Christmas tree down the street without melting into hot butter.

The more that the atheists push for Christian secrecy (”keep your religion out of my world”), the more we return to the early days of the faith. When are the lions vs. Christian matches coming back to the civic arenas? When will Atheism become the State religion which is seen and heard everywhere (your “God talk” won’t be tolerated but all talk of the no god god will).

Everytime I have been in WalMart, Albertsons, RiteAid, etc. I always wish anyone who helps me “Merry Christmas.”

It’s amazing how many reply, “Merry Christmas.”

Try it!

First They Came for the Jews

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
Pastor Martin Niemöller

Community and individuality are not opposites. People cannot survive on their own. When the odds are stacked against you, you must rally with the oppressed and hated.

When a growing oppressive regime is taking hold, you must act, otherwise you will soon face your enemy alone and hopeless.

Strength of community is a strength as much as individualism, as long you are willing to face weaknesses in your own community. Ignoring slacking values will mean that you will be rallied against by those you oppress.

Niemöller affirms we must rally against unhealthy organized regimes. We must also stay vigilant with those that appear to be good natured, as all organisation attracts corruption. Niemöller also warns us that if it is you who are corrupt, then you will face a stronger combined force of foe!
Vexen Crabtree

I emailed the following to those stores that ignored Christmas..

Around 85% of Americans consider themselves Christians and over 90% of Americans celebrate CHRISTMAS.

I, like many millions of others, AM OFFENDED by your exclusion of Christmas from your businesses.

It is gross hypocrisy to expect to cash in on Christmas shoppers largess while you are actively denying the festival in your stores.

I, personally, am making a point of spending MY Christmas shopping budget where Christmas is celebrated. There will be nothing from your establishments under the Christmas tree in my house, and none of my money in your cash registers.

Bah Humbug to you. Retailers are hurting this year, I hope you hurt more than most.

Given your reliance on the Christmas season sales to meet your annual revenue goals maybe you won’t even be here NEXT Christmas, and you will have only yourselves to blame.

Take back the holiday. Do not shop for presents, they want you to spend money now, but if Christians would stop buying presents for just one year, the leftists might suffer some and maybe relent just a little. Think about how much advertising money goes to leftist newspapers in suppot of a holiday that they wish to destroy. Don’t buy the papers, don’t buy the sales, make something by hand or buy something from a thrift store and restore it.

>>Everytime I have been in WalMart....
>>I always wish anyone who helps me “Merry Christmas.”
>>It’s amazing how many reply, “Merry Christmas.”

WalMart is getting all my business this year and next. All their commercials include “Christmas” in them. It’s the only major retailer I see that isn’t ashamed of Christmas.

Christmas cards, if I may call them that, wish our friends the "joys of the season" but commonly omit the "Reason for the season."

That is ONE thing over which WE have complete control. Be sure to buy RELIGIOUS cards, and use the lovely RELIGIOUS stamps that are available. You'll have to specify the religious stamps, when you ask for them, though, because they have more of the secular kinds.

Our Associate Pastor preached a wonderful sermon about this on the first Sunday of Advent, stressing the anticipation of Christmas, which should be being celebrated right now, and wait until Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day to actually celebrate Christmas. Then you have the full 12 days of Christmas, up to Epiphany to enjoy the full Christmas season. I made sure to thank him for the sermon; he was pleased.

I must admit, though, I DO love my Christmas music, and start playing it around Thanksgiving. I don't have much in the way of secular Christmas music, apart from a CD each of Bing Crosby, Harry Connick, Jr. and Trisha Yearwood. Most of mine are religious in nature, and are mostly choral groups; Choir of King's College Chapel, Cambridge Singers, Boston Camerata, Anonymous 4, etc.

I also have Handel's "Messiah", Ralph Vaughn Williams' "Hodie", and Bach's "Christmas Oratorio". I crank up the sound on my computer, when the first chorus of Bach comes up in the shuffle. "Jauchzet Frohlocket" can really rattle the walls! ;o)

I like my Christmas music too and I always buy religious Christmas stamps and religious Christmas cards. I keep my outside lights on until the middle of January. I have some neighbors who throw out their Christmas trees on New Years Day, what a shame. Here is a NYC radio station you can listen to while on the net.

Listen Live, Christmas Music played 24/7 from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day

I went to a holiday “concert” for my 3 yr old’s Daycare yesterday. The first song was about Kwanzaa. The kids liked the song because in part of it they got to yell “Kwanzaa!”, however they had no idea what it meant. Just part of the indoctrination. The only songs they ALL knew were “Frosty the Snowman” and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”. Probably drove the PC Nazis crazy.

I’m fighting back though. His teachers (both young and black) taught him to say Obama 08! during the election. Again he had no idea what it meant, and they aren’t evil, they are just black, ignorant girls who were raised by typical racist black people in America. So I taught him to say “Obama is a poo-poo head!”. There is no greater joy to a 3.5 yr old than to say poo-poo head, and I wish I could’ve seen the look on their faces when he said it.

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