Free Republic

For those looking to an alternative to SantaCon, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has a perfect idea. The U.S. Representative-elect for New York’s 14th congressional district — who at 29 is the youngest woman ever elected to Congress — tweeted a new option to anyone uninterested in participating in the annual holiday pub crawl featuring attendees dressed in Christmas costumes. Asked by New York Times reporter Liam Stack if she could “pass a law stopping santacon,” Ocasio-Cortez joked, “I’m not sure, but maybe we can look into establishing GrinchCon — a tea + coffee crawl where people can spread peace and quiet everywhere...

Between a Christmas tree and a menorah display in the Illinois state capitol, a statue from the Satanic Temple is standing for the holiday season. The display shows an apple upheld by an arm which has been encircled by a snake. The words “Knowledge is the greatest gift” is written across the front of the black base. The satanic tribute was erected at the statehouse rotunda in Springfield. Near the display is an explanation from the local government. “The State of Illinois is required by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution to allow temporary, public displays in the...

Well, it’s time for a good Christmas rant. This requires a rant, because every year, we see the same ignorant silliness. (Sorry, but it’s just true.) Supposedly, Christmas is secretly pagan, secretly syncretist, secretly a co-opting of pagan stuff and ignorantly claiming it to be Christian. But the truth about these things is so available that it’s literally staring out at you even from Wikipedia. Well, if you are one of the people who says this stuff, I’ve got a lot of problems with you people. Let the airing of grievances begin. (And it’s not even Festivus yet!)

Commentary: Canada's CBC is the latest radio outlet to ban "Baby" as offensive. Who to believe — radio programmers, or actual feminists? There is one group, and one group only, that should be crusading against the performance of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” in public: vicious maiden aunts. These treacherous protectors of niece-ly chastity have no coalition in 2018, so far as we’ve heard. (Speak up and say your piece if you’re out there, Auntie Lame Society.). So the campaign against Frank Loesser’s 1940s classic has been left to others — not so much feminists, as rumored, since most who’ve thought...

It’s the Christmas season again, which means it’s time for the annual debate. Well, actually, it’s time for several annual debates: Is “Happy Holidays” a valid greeting, or is it the sign of a Liberal War on Christmas? Is Wham’s “Last Christmas” the GOAT of Christmas songs, or is it a cheesy artifact that should have been left in the 1980s with parachute pants and bleached bangs? Now that we survived the discomfort of avoiding political discussions with Uncle Frank at Thanksgiving dinner, do we really have to do it again at Christmas? What should Starbucks put on their cups?...

The holidays are here, which means it’s time to debate whether or not the lyrics to “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” are creepy or just crappy and annoying. According to CNN, Star 102, WDOK-FM, a Cleveland Christmas radio station has decided it won’t be playing “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” this year. The 74-year-old song by “Guys and Dolls” writer Frank Loesser is also known on Urban Dictionary as the “Christmas Date Rape Song.”On the station’s website, radio host Glenn Anderson explained that the song is no longer appropriate for #MeToo era: “Now, I do realize that when the song was written...

Atheists are fighting the war FOR Christmas? Solstice, Yule, Saturnalia, Hanukkah, and other traditions were blended centuries ago to form Christmas, and embellished with fairy tales and fables into the rich secular modern celebration we have today.See for yourself at http://atheistchristmas.org/ Values like joy, peace, sharing, and celebration are not limited to one faith or culture in December. The foundations of Christmas may be mythological, but the Spirit of Christmas is universal. Keep the Merry, without the Myths!

She doesn’t just deserve a lump of coal in her stocking, she should get a whole trainload! A bah-humbug New Jersey substitute teacher shattered the hearts of a class of first-graders by telling them Santa Claus and his eight reindeer weren’t real — and then it got a lot worse. “She proceeded to just completely unleash on them,’’ said stunned parent Lisa Simek, whose daughter Emilia was in the class at Cedar Hill School in Montville, on Facebook. “She told them Santa isn’t real and parents just buy presents and put them under their tree. “She told them reindeer can’t...

SAN JOSE (KPIX) — The South Bay’s biggest holiday celebration appears to have fallen victim to thieves after someone robbed ornaments off a tree at Christmas in the Park in San Jose that had its decorations sponsored by a local Satanic group. The crime happened just two days after the tree went up with the thieves apparently targeting a specific tree. The tree targeted was decorated with pentagrams and other demonic symbols, its decorations sponsored by a Bay Area Satanic organization. Some may wonder why a Satanic group would have a decorated tree at a holiday display like Christmas...

HuffPost, a liberal news site, was lampooned after saying Christmas classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” was “seriously problematic” over claims that it features sexism and bullying. “Viewers are noticing the tale may not be so jolly after all,” the outlet’s video said. “And they’re sharing their observations online.” Among those observations was the suggestion that the TV classic was a story about racism and homophobia, while calling Santa Claus abusive and bigoted. “Yearly reminder that #Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a parable on racism & homophobia w/Santa as a bigoted exploitative prick,” read one comment shared by HuffPost. “Santa’s operation...

Organisers of the Christmas Market in the Belgian city of Brugge changed its name to Winter Market. The decision was made to not ‘offend other beliefs’, Belgian newspaper HLN reports. The newspaper says that the Christmas lights on the market will be replaced by neutral winter lights. People and politicians are not amused about the changes. Pol Van Den Driessche, a member of local opposition party N-VA, calls the decision ‘incomprehensible and unbelievable’. “So we are not allowed to speak about a Christmas Market, but only of a Winter Market. This is not only a completely insane decision, it also...

Massachusetts college librarians state that wishing someone a “Merry Christmas” or saying “God bless you” if they sneeze is an act of “Islamomisic microaggression”. Librarians at Simmons College in Boston have banded together to write what they have titled The Anti-Oppression Library Guide. While controversial, the guide is intended as a resource to promote equality and limit religious oppression. While the guide is not an official policy of Simmons College, some of its beliefs have already made their way to reports in mainstream media outlets like Fox News. Librarians at the college argue that “Islamomisic Microaggressions are commonplace verbal or...

A North Carolina mom started serving a week-long jail sentence for having her daughter baptized, according to reports. The 2016 baptism at St. Peter’s Catholic Church when the girl was 2 years old defied a judge’s order in a custody battle between unmarried couple, Kendra Stocks and Paul Schaaf, who are no longer together.

In his first and only official visit to an American mosque, seven years into his presidency, former President Barack Obama articulated something American Muslims know all too well: “A lot of Americans have never visited a mosque,” he said, adding that “most Americans don’t necessarily know — or at least don’t know that they know — a Muslim personally” either.

It turns out Bill O’Reilly was right all along: there IS a war on Christmas. Quick, without looking it up, somebody tell me what Pancha Ganapati isNewsweek pretty much confirmed as much with their Christmas Eve story titled “How Trump and the Nazis Stole Christmas To Promote White Nationalism.” Trump supporters say Americans have become too politically correct when they wish people happy holidays, a neutral term that can be used for people who celebrate Hanukkah, Eid, or any other religious holiday that takes place around the same time as Christmas. – ed. And let’s not forget the non-religious holidays...

On her MSNBC show today, Joy Reid touted a book authored by a writer for Stephen Colbert’s show that depicts Santa as being black and gay, with a white husband. In a revealing moment, Reid said: “the reality is, as crazy as I am, if I can find a husband, Santa can too.” Beyond the gender-bending, Reid also had a purely political message for kids. Apparently, there’s been some controversy over the Black Santa emoji, which some see as appearing sad. Explained Reid: Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

A person who gives a gift featuring his or her sacred religious iconography is reaching out, showing kindness and sharing his or her faith with others.For years I have been one of the only Jewish people at my places of employment. I am currently the only Jew who wears a kippah at my office every day. In my heavily Southern Baptist and rural town, one would think I would be quite familiar with the consequences of being such an outsider.But, as any honest minority will tell you, that singular idea of what America must be like simply is not accurate....

The Muslim mayor of the Israeli city of Nazareth has now said that Christmas celebrations will be permitted following reports that they would be canceled due to U.S. President Donald Trump's controversial decision on Jerusalem. "I don't know why people thought that there would be cuts to the celebrations. Everything, except for three singers who will not be coming, will be held as normal. We have already welcomed 60,000 people to the city today," Mayor Ali Salam told Reuters on Saturday. "[I] invite all the residents of the State of Israel - the Jews, Muslims and Christians - to come...

Christmas movies are great. Or, rather, as a general rule Christmas movies are great. The stop-motion classic Santa Clause Is Comin' To Town takes us on a nostalgic trip back to the Christmases of our childhood. Irving Berlin's White Christmas envelopes us in all of the warm Christmas feels that each new Hallmark Christmas movie attempts to duplicate. However, among the great Christmas movies that we enjoy every year are sprinkled some clumps of movie coal. Some Christmas movies are downright awful, as the following list proves.

Just in time for Christmas! Santa's Husband, introduces us Santa's husband Dave.