Posted on 07/01/2015 6:03:45 AM PDT by Kaslin
Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from Gretchen Carlson's new book, "Getting Real."
It was while doing "Fox & Friends" that I got a reputation for being a culture warrior. Bill O'Reilly started inviting me to come on "The O'Reilly Factor" for a regular culture warrior segment. I really cared about this stuff. Fox was the first place I'd worked where it was okay to talk openly about your faith on the air. Of course, I understand that when you're doing news reporting and anchoring, it's not appropriate. But at Fox I had a different kind of forum, so I went for it.
Where our culture is headed is an enduring topic of interest for many people, and I think they appreciate it that I take the topic on -- even when they don't agree with me. For example, I've received plenty of flak for talking about the war on Christmas, often being described as "freaking out" and "going ballistic," as if I were some demented Christian warrior. One website published this pearl: "If Bill O'Reilly is the commander-in-chief of the War on Christmas, Gretchen Carlson is the head of the women's auxiliary." The thing is, it's not a joke to me. I can't think of a single other religion whose holy day is treated like a joke.
It all came to a head over the Festivus controversy. Festivus is a fake holiday, invented by the hit show "Seinfeld" in 1997. It was a funny bit on the comedy, and I laughed along with the rest of the world. But then it got real. Some people subsequently began to celebrate the holiday as an alternative to the Christian celebration, and one of them wrote a book called "Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Bump
So it was an acting stretch for her.
“Christmas was the day Diocletian celebrated, albeit prematurely, that he had annihilated Christianity from the Earth, he was proven wrong not long afterward.”
Gotta love the “rusty” irony! Now the day Diocletian celebrated… celebrates the triumph of Christ over his evil designs. One of the fascinating aspects of my study of Scripture is how God uses His enemies for His purposes. Just a couple of examples… when Joseph of “coat of many colors” fame was sold into slavery by his envious brothers and later falsely accused and imprisoned in Egypt… I’m sure he did not see God anywhere in those events… yet clearly God had his hand on Joseph and he served God’s purposes. When Caesar Augustus proclaimed “all the world to be taxed” I’m certain he was not aware of the fact his decree forced Mary and Joseph to travel to Bethlehem to give birth to our Savior as was prophesied in Micah 5. Does the Supreme Court outrage have some work of God that we can’t see? Another irony of the Christian faith is that the persecuted church has thrived and grown… it’s the prosperous church that tends to waver… go figure?
Well, at this point, there’s little if any motive for churches to keep a standard on marriage. If anything, genuine Christianity will get proven as more and more churches simply change to reflect the law of the land and try to pander to gain members. The separation of wheat and tares is occurring as we speak. There’s other issues too, but holding faithful to the end is the test, and it’s made all the more ramped up with societal support of principles gone. It reminds me of Israel and the Golden Calf, you have to wonder how people held out before Moses returned. But it proved that Israel and the world needed to live under strict standards and needed a Savior to atone for our sins. Now we are left in the days that Jesus warned about. Where the opposition to those who believe grows, and he will come before it’s too late, although the hour isn’t known.
It all came to a head over the Festivus controversy. Festivus is a fake holiday, invented by the hit show "Seinfeld" in 1997. It was a funny bit on the comedy, and I laughed along with the rest of the world. But then it got real. Some people subsequently began to celebrate the holiday as an alternative to the Christian celebration, and one of them wrote a book called "Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us."
I have a relative - an atheist - who hosts an annual "Festivus" party to celebrate with his atheist friends. I don't know about the guests, but my relative does this to thumb his nose at the Christmas holiday and at the Christians in our family. Before 1997, he didn't do anything except thumb his nose. Seinfeld just gave him a socially-acceptable mock tradition to fill the time while doing so.
He can get in line behind me!
From Wikipedia:
Festivus was conceived by editor and author Daniel O'Keefe and was celebrated by his family as early as 1966. In the original O'Keefe tradition, the holiday would take place in response to family tension, "any time from December to May". The phrase "A Festivus for the rest of us" also derived from an O'Keefe family event, the death of Daniel O'Keefe's mother.
In 1982, Daniel O'Keefe wrote a book, Stolen Lightning: The Social Theory of Magic, that deals with idiosyncratic ritual and its social significance, a theme relevant to Festivus tradition.
The word Festivus in this sense was coined by O'Keefe, and according to him the name "just popped into my head". The English word festive derives from Latin "festivus", which in turn derives from festus "joyous; holiday, feast day".
Although the first Festivus took place in February 1966, as a celebration of Daniel O'Keefe's first date with his future wife, Deborah, it is now celebrated on December 23, as depicted in a Seinfeld episode written by O'Keefe's son.
ding ding ding ding ding...Winner winner winner winner winner...
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