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Although a large number of shops in Tehran put a Christmas tree in their windows to welcome Christmas season, the Christmas theme in several shopping centers has displeased the regime dependent media. Last week you could sense the Christmas season in several streets in Tehran. Many shops had placed a decorated Christmas tree where it could easily capture the attention of passersby. But it seems that this trend has upset the pro-government media! ... "One of the main symbols of Christianity, the majority religion of the world, is Christmas which is known by a colorfully decorated tree. What's the point...

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A Portland man is urging people to boycott the Boy Scout Christmas tree recycling program to challenge the organization's position on gay rights. Richard Kuhns posted flyers throughout the Laurelhurst neighborhood where he lives, complaining of the Boy Scouts’ national stance against gays. Local Boy Scout leaders said the tree recycling program has traditionally been one of their biggest yearly fund-raisers. Boy Scouts of America issued a statement Thursday that said in part, "The BSA recognizes that some do not agree with its position on this single issue, but values the freedom of everyone to express their...

A young man dressed as “Father Frost” – the Russian equivalent of Father Christmas – was stabbed to death in Tajikistan on Monday in an attack police believe was motivated by religious hatred, two police sources said. A crowd attacked 24-year-old Parviz Davlatbekov and stabbed him with a knife as he visited relatives in the early hours of Monday dressed as Father Frost, who by tradition brings Russian children presents at New Year. Russian cultural influence remains strong in Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic. “We have witness statements that say the crowd beat Parviz and stabbed him with a knife,...

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through Nigeria, not a creature was stirring except for the members of the militant Islamic sect Boko Haram, preparing to bomb Christian churches across the country and setting on fire the cars of worshippers inside a church just outside of Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state. Christmastime in the United States now brings with it a new tradition that is becoming as familiar as eggnog, mistletoe, and the Macy’s Parade: skirmishes in the ongoing cultural war on Christmas. But as the recent attacks in Nigeria prove, in Muslim lands around the world there...

Christmas in America is a season of time-honored traditions — the sacred performance of the annual ACLU lawsuit over the presence of an insufficiently secular “holiday” tree; the ritual provocations of the atheist displays licensed by pitifully appeasing municipalities to sit between the menorah and the giant Frosty the Snowman; the familiar strains of every hack columnist’s “war on Christmas” column rolling off the keyboard as easily as Richard Clayderman playing “Winter Wonderland” . . . (snip) One sympathizes, up to a point. As America degenerates from a land of laws to a land of legalisms, much of life is...

Thousands of Texans, including the state attorney general and the governor, have sent a clear message to Wisconsin atheists who enjoy intimidating small towns into removing nativity scenes. At least 5,000 showed up at a rally supporting Henderson County officials who have refused to comply with the group’s demand that they remove a nativity scene from the Athens, Texas, courthouse lawn. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said that if the Wisconsin atheists sue as threatened, his office would come to the county’s defense. Texas’ governor, Rick Perry, also said he would fight to support the county, noted the San Antonio...

The congregation of the embattled GKI Yasmin church in Bogor was forced to move its Christmas prayers to a member’s house after Islamic groups assembled at the disputed site and threatened to challenge the sermon on Sunday. The service was slated to start at 9 a.m. in the sealed church on Jalan Abdullah bin Nuh, but the congregants went elsewhere after members of the Indonesian Muslim Communication Forum (Forkami), the Islamic Reform Movement (Garis) and the Bogor Muslim Community (KMB) objected to that plan. The opposition protestors came to the church in the morning and shouted to guarding police officers...

We hear about the famous War on Christmas that our secular society wages with great intensity. However, the latest news from the front is not encouraging for those who would worship around a holiday tree. According to a recent Rasmussen report, 88% of Americans will celebrate Christmas this year and 81% of that group will celebrate it as a religious holiday. From these statistics, we can clearly deduce that Christianity and Christmas have yet to disappear as of 2011. The ferocious onslaught of secular humanism rages as it pushes its agenda through the media, the political world and our...

Americans overwhelmingly prefer the traditional “Merry Christmas” greeting over the “Happy Holidays” that some stores and businesses require their employees to utilize at this time of year.  A new Marist Poll of 1,026 adults nationwide finds that 64 percent – nearly two-thirds – think the appropriate greeting should be “Merry Christmas,” while 31 percent favored “Happy Holidays.” The sentiment was strongest in the Midwest (70 percent) -- but income level made no difference -- with the same level of support (64 percent) for those who made under $50,000 as those who made over $50,000 a year. People 45 or older...

The War On Christmas Is Real, And The Atheist Barbarians Are Winning It By Tim Stanley December 23rd, 2011 Militant atheists, like Richard Dawkins, celebrate the spiritual decline of Christmas. There are two wars on Christmas: one public and baloney, one conceptual and terrifying. The first usually involves a group of “Bah! Humbug!” atheists trying to ruin everybody’s fun. Take this story from Santa Monica, California. For decades Palisades Park has displayed traditional religious tableaux at Christmas – the Virgin and Child, the three wise men, shepherds etc. But this year a lottery system was introduced to allow other religious...

CHRISTIAN & MISSIONARY ALLIANCE DECLARES WAR ON CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION Subject: Christian & Missionary Alliance seize Christian firefighter/pastor's church and bank account by force then steals their Christmas Dear Pastors, Workers and Members of New Jersey and Greater New York City Christian and Missionary Alliance and Christians throughout the United States, Some of you may be aware that Bruce Terpstra and the Metro District may be giving Paramus Community church property to one of their Korean groups. At first this might appear to be a wonderful gift to the Korean Christians in New Jersey. But it is urgent that you know...

<p>Santa Claus has been “suspended” at one New Jersey school, after some parents complained it was religious discrimination.  Picture day with Santa is a long-standing tradition at Calabro Elementary School.  But this year, one parent, who is Jewish, pointed out other traditions weren’t being represented, reports CBS 2’s Kathryn Brown.</p>

NEWBURYPORT — A Secret Santa gift exchange has always been a popular tradition observed in Kathleen Petrie's elementary school classroom, but the jolly old elf is not welcome at Molin Upper Elementary School this year. Principal Lorene Marx ended the Christmas-themed celebration out of deference to those students who don't celebrate the Christian holiday, St. Nicholas and his flying reindeer. And at least one parent is upset about the loss of the beloved holiday icon. "I think it is punishing the majority to possibly help a very few," said David Logan, a parent of a child in Petrie's classroom. "I...

I’m not sure why ex-Senator and current Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee keeps getting elected, but I’m quite sure he offends me. I truly can’t stand seeing his face, and you don’t have to ask why. You see, that’s the way offensiveness is: It’s completely subjective and not constrained by rhyme or reason. Along with a lot of other people, however, I now certainly have one very logical reason to chafe at Chafee: His decision to call the 17-foot-tall blue spruce Christmas tree in his state capitol’s rotunda a “holiday tree” despite opposition from residents and lawmakers. This, mind you,...

For a number of Americans, the Christmas season is a time for joy and love, but for others, it’s an opportunity to stage a war against Christianity. The latest battle entails a blasphemous nativity scene from a group of atheists, which they have defended as a response to counteract the Christian “War on the Constitution.”  Wisconsin is once again at the center of a major dispute, this time because Governor Scott Walker made the mistake of referring to the “holiday” spruce as a “Christmas tree.” That prompted the Freedom from Religion Foundation to call Walker “a Teabagger governor wearing religion...

The big black letters on the water tower that looms over this small South Jersey town announce “Everybody likes Pitman.” Except that someone doesn’t. Or so say many of the borough’s residents. Located just 17 miles southeast of Philadelphia, the Gloucester County town has the rural feel of fictional Bedford Falls in “It’s a Wonderful Life” — the kind of town where the barber shop is called just that in a window sign and has a working barber pole spinning out front. There is no snow on the ground, but wreaths encircle lamp posts like halos, the marquee in front...

Members of the House of Representatives are being told that no holiday greetings, including “Merry Christmas,” can be sent out in official mail. According to the Washington Examiner, members who submit official mailings for review by the congressional franking commission that reviews all congressional mail to determine if it can be "franked," or paid for with tax dollars, are being told that no holiday greetings, including "Merry Christmas," can be sent. "I called the commission to ask for clarification and was told no 'Merry Christmas.' Also told cannot say 'Happy New Year' but can say 'have a happy new year'...

To the editor: Christmas is in full swing again. Actually, it's been in full-time operating mode since the middle of October when I was assaulted by an aisle of red and green merchandise at a local retailer. Let's face it, most people would prefer seeing this junk after they've stuffed their faces with the Thanksgiving meal. The marketers of today are quite clever in their efforts to "cash in on Christ" while He sits on the sidelines. Odd way to celebrate someone's birthday, don't you think? For instance, Victoria's Secret parades half-naked young ladies disguised as angels (not the godly...

Feel free to personally wish him Merry Christmas here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Abu-Mussab-Wajdi-Akkari-Official/123179511075285

Kwanzaa Is Wack: There, I Said It Kwanzaa is wack. The other day I said this on my Facebook page. Actually, what I said was:” Is it wrong of me to say that I love AFRICA, but I think Kwanzaa is wack? #ducksfromthebricks .” Now, when I said it, I meant it but gave no thought to how it might affect people. I’m kind of bad like that. A ton of people (some Black and some not) got on and said they thought Kwanzaa was wack to. I never thought about it again really. Just a funny little thread. Then...

Athens — The nativity scene on the southeast corner of the Henderson County Courthouse lawn has drawn a protest in the form of a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, an organization based in Madison, Wis. The scene, which has been displayed at the location since the 2008 season, is placed there each year by Keep Athens Beautiful...(snip) ...The letter, dated Dec. 1, was addressed to the County Commissioners from Stephanie Schmidt, Staff Attorney for the Foundation. It begins: “I am writing on behalf of a concerned area resident and taxpayer, as well as other Texas members of the...

Several L-S High parents have forwarded me the text of this email from their principal, Scott Carpenter, letting students and parents know the rules for celebrating “the winter solstice and several cultural and religious holidays.” Here: read the email for yourself. Then tell me when Lincoln-Sudbury and the rest of uber-liberal Massachusetts went insane: 'Tis the season to celebrate the winter solstice and several cultural and religious holidays. The tradition of decorating the "senior spot" is a long-held one, and is acceptable as long as certain guidelines are followed. In the spirit of L-S culture, where we want to make...

Last week, Gov. Deval Patrick’s office sent one email containing two very different invitations. One is for the explicitly religious and religion-specific “Annual Lighting of the Chanukah Menorah” on Dec. 20th. The other is for tonight’s completely non-religious and utterly p.c. “Holiday Tree Lighting.” If it’s OK to have a “Chanukah Menorah,” then surely it’s OK to have a “Christmas Tree,” right? Conversely, if Gov. Patrick’s p.c. paranoia prohibits admitting what the tree really is, shouldn’t the glowing Jewish symbol next to the “Holiday Tree” be a “Winter Candle,” or a “Solstice Candelabra?” In a rational, reasonable Massachusetts, the state...

Tis the season to bash Jesus and Christians… (If your a Christian-hating leftist) Hollywood star Johnny Depp lent his voice to a new Christmas song that mocks Jesus Christ – right in time for the holidays. “Jesus Stag Night Club” is the first track off of UK band Babybird’s 2011 album, ‘The Pleasure of Self Destruction’. The song features a guest performance from Johnny Depp. The Christian Post reported: This time of year is usually filled with songs about baby Jesus and expressions of the great joy that emanates from the Christmas story. It seems no one told actor Johnny...

OK, so a Rhode Island governor who won’t call it a “Christmas” tree? Dumb, but I get it. A Virginia courthouse where Santa’s been banned? I get that, too. But when the guy who won’t say “Merry Christmas” is Santa Claus, you know you’ve crossed the line into utter PC insanity. Or the border into Massachusetts. Same thing. On Sunday evening, my kids and I dropped into the Friendly’s in Sudbury for a post-Christmas-shopping-day treat. They got ice cream decorated with smiley-faces, and I got a few minutes of blessed relief from “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” blasting...

At first I thought his complaint might have something to do with the scene that you can only see in the director’s cut where the Abominable Snow Monster took Hermey’s dental school lunch money and gave him an atomic wedgie while Yukon Cornelius laughed until icicles came out his nose, but instead, the apparent problem is with Santa himself. As it turns out, St. Nick is no saint: Santa Claus doesn’t just drop off presents for kids — he also encourages the soul-crushing of generation after generation of Christmas-reveling children. Or says one author, at least. Appearing on Fox News,...

A Christmas display outside the courthouse in Leesburg, VA featuring Santa Claus crucified on a cross was torn down by an angry resident in spite of arguments by elected leaders that the display was Constitutionally-protected free speech. “I am shocked that the county would allow such a thing as a crucified Santa on the courthouse lawn,” Elizabeth McGuirk, a mother of three told Leesburg Today. She it would “seriously disturb my children.”

STOCKTON - A letter sent to Lincoln Unified teachers that may have sounded like it came from the Grinch who stole Christmas has become fodder for how far school districts are willing to go in recognizing the separation of church and state. The letter from the Lincoln Unified district office told teachers not to display Santa Claus or poinsettias in order to maintain sensitivity toward those who don't celebrate Christmas.

Even the Grinch would not be this mean. A sourpuss teacher in Rockland County ruined Christmas for a class full of second-graders this week, when she told them that there is no Santa Claus during a lesson about the North Pole. The evil educator even told the youngsters - mostly 7- and 8-year-olds - that the presents under their trees were put out by their parents, and not St. Nick. The stunning Scrooge-like behavior has caused a blizzard of outrage at the quiet George W. Miller Elementary School in Nanuet, where angry parents would like to see the teacher roasted...

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee sparked controversy nationwide when he called a 17-foot spruce tree in the State House a "holiday tree." Chafee cited a 1663 Colonial charter and the legacy of state founder Roger Williams when explaining that not calling the tree a Christmas tree earlier this week is in Rhode Island tradition, the Boston Herald reported. "I'm just continuing what other governors have done," Chafee said, after dedicating another tree to soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I just want to make sure I'm doing everything possible in this building to honor Roger Williams. "In my own...

A battle is brewing in Rhode Island and you can weigh in with other Americans to stop this War on Christmas! November 30, 2011 Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee does not like a Christmas tree being called a Christmas tree. So he is changing it. According to FoxNews, Gov. Chafee has said the Christmas tree in the State House Rotunda in Providence, as of this year, will be called a "holiday" tree.

Columbia High School, Parker Avenue, Maplewood, NJhttp://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/admin.htm Having heard about the event on the Free Republic I decided to go down and check out the action and participate in the “illegal” rally singing those “illegal” religious songs.  I arrived about 5:00 PM the time it was supposed to start and joined in the crowd, about 100 people, which was already singing Christmas Carols.  We were standing in the middle of the road in front of the school where the police had blocked off the street with barricades and police cars and about 5 police were there for crowd control.  It...

In December 2009, there was a thread here on Free Republic outlining the fact that Coca-Cola had released "holiday" packaging that said "Feliz Navidad" in Spanish, but "Holiday 2009" in English. Some were outraged because it appeared that Christmas was okay to acknowledge in Spanish, but not in English. It seems that Coke has learned their lesson and for their 2010 packaging, they use the English greeting "Merry Christmas". Click here to read the original 2009 Free Republic article on this matter. Click here to see an image containing both the 2009 and 2010 Coke package designs with the "Holiday...

Dick's Sporting Goods gets the unlucky honor of being this year's villain in the “War on Christmas” campaign. The American Family Association has singled it out for a boycott this holiday season because the chain is “against” the holiday, reports Advertising Age. One of its offenses is having a "Holiday Shop” section on its website, with no mention of Christmas. All in all, though, the defense of Christmas has been going splendidly for the AFA, says a spokesman; over five years, the percentage of retailers acknowledging Christmas has soared from 20% to 80%, he says. And while Dick's may be...

Walgreens is the latest store to return to explicit references to Christmas, switching its position a day after some Christian groups threatened to boycott over its generic holiday wording. The American Family Association and the Liberty Counsel—Christian groups that maintain lists of “naughty” and “nice” retailers based on which stores reference Christmas—applauded Walgreens’ switch, along with several other big stores who are coming off the naughty list for the first time in years.

What do you think? Are you offended by 'happy holidays' instead of 'merry Christmas'?

This year, a company which took over sponsorship of the annual Richmond, Virginia, Christmas parade has ordered the city's organizers to change it to a "holiday" parade. Dominion, an energy company operating in 12 states, has told the city it no longer wants to use "Christmas" as part of the parade name. Instead, Dominion said it will be known as the "Dominion Holiday Parade." This attack on the traditional use of "Christmas" has been accepted by parade organizers, who buckled under the anti-Christmas insistence of the company.

Walker said Monday that the evergreen decorated with ornaments and adorned with a star in the center of Wisconsin's Capitol Rotunda is a Christmas tree, not a holiday tree as it's been called for the past 25 years. The roughly 30-foot-tall tree was called a Christmas tree from the first display in 1916 until 1985. That's when politicians bowed to concerns about government endorsing religion and started referring to it as a holiday tree. The Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation has opposed the term Christmas tree, saying it offends nonreligious people and amounts to a government endorsement of Christianity. The...

(NewsCore) - A Rhode Island lawmaker is calling Gov. Lincoln Chafee "Governor Grinch" for defying politicians and deciding that the state would have a "holiday tree" instead of a "Christmas tree." The governor defended his decision by arguing that it is in keeping with the state's founding in 1636 by religious dissident Roger Williams as a haven for tolerance -- where government and religion were kept separate. Chafee, an independent, said in a statement issued Tuesday that his stand was a continuation of past practice, "and does not represent a change of course on my part." But Rep. Doreen Costa,...

The Netanyahu government's Ministry of Immigrant Absorption is sponsoring advertisements in at least five American communities that warn Israeli expatriates that they will lose their identities if they don't return home. The Ministry is also featuring on its website a series of short videos that, in an almost comically heavy-handed way, caution Israelis against raising their children in America -- one scare-ad shows a pair of Israeli grandparents seated before a menorah and Skypeing with their granddaughter, who lives in America. When they ask the child to name the holiday they're celebrating, she says "Christmas." In another ad, an actor...

According to the author, this will be the last year he posts this....copy it and pass it on. EVERY WHO DOWN IN WHOVILLE LIKED CHRISTMAS A LOT, BUT THE GRINCH, WHO LIVED JUST NORTH OF WHOVILLE, DID NOT. THE GRINCH HATED CHRISTMAS THE WHOLE CHRISTMAS SEASON. NO ONE KNOWS WHY, NO ONE KNOWS QUITE THE REASON. IT COULD HAVE BEEN THAT THE GRINCH WAS JEW, BUT HE WASN’T THE GRINCH SIMPLY HATED EACH WHO. HE HATED THEM ALL SINCE THEY ALL SEEMED SO HAPPY AND THE GRINCH'S ..........

I was going to post on the prevalence of "Keep Christ in Christmas" bumper stickers and signs at this time of year and suggest that the reason Christ is being taken out of Christmas is that Mass has already been taken out of Christmas. However, Mark Shea links to this article by an atheist that makes my argument before I could get a chance. He makes the very good point that the whole Advent and Christmas season (lasting right up to Candlemass on February 2) was a long sacred holiday that celebrated the Incarnation of Our Lord, and it was...

THE BBC has angered Christians with a TV drama in which the Virgin Mary is branded a prostitute and sex cheat. In The Nativity, written by EastEnders scriptwriter Tony Jordan, 15-year-old Mary is attacked by people who do not believe her claim that she is pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph accuses her of “whoring” and even suggests that her pregnancy might have been the result of rape. The Church of England has described the four-part drama, which goes out before the 9pm watershed from tomorrow, as “a gritty interpretation”. But Stephen Green, of the ministry Christian Voice,...

"Christmas is just commercialized materialism. Nobody even thinks about Jesus anymore because all they’re doing is putting up lights, decorating some pagan tree and watching nonsense like Santa and Frosty on TV. Besides, Christmas isn’t even endorsed in the Bible. The story is in two of the Gospels, but the date isn’t given—and Jesus never tells us to celebrate it. It’s a holiday created by the Pope to broker a political deal with 4th Century pagans. And, worst of all, most people don’t even have the decency to say, ‘Merry Christmas,’ on the birthday of our Savior, instead kowtowing to...

Hanukkah may have ended over 2 weeks ago, Kwanzaa week may have just begun, and New Years may still be 6 days away, but major retailers have once again started their "After Holiday" sales on December 26. Retailers that went to great lengths to avoid using the word Christmas, in favor of the more inclusive term "Holidays", now seem to not care that many holidays are still to come while others ended long ago. Companies such as Barnes and Nobel as well as Old navy/Gap went to such extremes to avoid using the term Christmas that they ended up being...

The ultra-Orthodox community is threatening to boycott Jerusalem's luxurious Mamilla shopping complex due to electric ornaments resembling Christmas lights, which have been placed along the boulevard. Wall posters calling on the public to boycott the mall's stores began appearing in haredi neighborhoods several days after the ornaments were placed in the shopping complex. The ads – titled "Is Jerusalem becoming Christian?" – were signed by the Rabbis' Committee for the Sanctity of Jerusalem. They stated that "if this idol worship is not removed immediately, we will declare a consumer boycott against the mall and the Mamilla Hotel, owned by businessman...

The metaphor "the War on Christmas" can be mocked -- as if Santa and his reindeer are dodging anti-aircraft fire. But many of our public schools have church-and-state sensitivity police with an alarming degree of Santaphobia. Anyone who's attended a school's "winter concert" in December with no traditional Christmas music -- not even "Frosty the Snowman" -- knows the drill. The vast Christian majority (that funds the public schools) is told that school is no place to celebrate one's religion, even in its most watered-down and secularized forms. There are real-life stories of Scrooge-like school administrators, like the one at...

This Christmas in Bethlehem, the cross has been banned from souvenirs for tourists and pilgrims in the Holy Land... Samir Qumsieh, journalist and director of the Catholic television station Al-Mahed Nativity TV in Bethlehem, said: "I want to launch a campaign to urge people not to buy these products - he says - because the removal of the cross is an intimidation against Christians, it is like saying that Jesus was never crucified. " Qumsieh points out that from 2002 to 2010 the Christian population of Bethlehem has dropped from over 18 thousand to 11 thousand people... Only 15,400 Christians...

We are far too accustomed to thinking that the Middle East is populated only by Muslims and a few Jews. There are Christians living there, too, often beleaguered and under attack. Here are three stories that remind us during this Christmas season that life for Christians in the Holy Land during this Holy Season can be particularly perilous. First, we learn that the cross, the very symbol of Christianity, has basically been abolished from Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. “This Christmas in Bethlehem, the cross has been banned from souvenirs for tourists and pilgrims in the Holy Land. Some textile...

For increasing number of retailers this year, no more 'Happy holidays'... NEW YORK — The War on Christmas may be in its final days. This season, merry Christmas — not happy holidays or season's greetings — will dominate retailer's marketing messages. There will be Christmas sales and Christmas trees and Christmas carols galore. That has the American Family Association, arguably one of the loudest voices advocating the use of Christmas in retailer's marketing messages over the past few years, predicting that its crusade could conclude in the next year or two. Randy Sharp, director-special projects at the AFA, said that...