Free Republic

It seems like it would take a special combination of Grinchy, Scroogy awfulness and world-historical stupidity to run afoul of a straightforward new law in Texas called the “Merry Christmas Law” that allows children and teachers in public schools to celebrate Christmas and other winter holidays plainly and explicitly.Naturally, then, a group of parents and a state legislator have claimed that the organizer of the winter party at Nichols Elementary School in the affluent Dallas suburb of Frisco has outlawed all mentions of Christmas at the event.But, wait! There’s so much more. The unidentified, fun-hating party organizer has also...

An elementary school in Frisco, Texas is believed to be the first in the state to violate “The Merry Christmas Law” after they banned Christmas trees and the colors red & green from an upcoming “winter” party. Boys and girls who attend the Nichols Elementary School “Winter Party” will not be able to make any reference to Christmas or any other religious holiday. Christmas trees are also banned—along with the colors red and green. … Ironically, the school is located in the district of state Rep. Pat Fallon, the author of a bill signed into law in June that codifies...

War on Christmas? Not in the House, where members can now include holiday greetings in their constituent communications. This is a reversal of previous policy, in which "any form of a holiday greeting was banned," House Administration Committee Chairman Candice Miller, R-Mich.,

NEW YORK, December 3, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – If you've ever wanted to help abortion facility escorts by spelling out parts of human genitalia and STDs in public, Planned Parenthood of New York City has the event for you. PPNYC's Action Fund Activist Council is holding a spelling bee about sex and STDs in Long Island next Wednesday to raise funds. The event, “Let's Spell About Sex,” vows: “We promise to offer everything you ever wanted to spell about sex but were afraid to ask.” Promotional materials add that participants have the chance to win “sexy prizes.” All proceeds go to...

Don’t expect to see Christmas lights, Christmas trees, or other Christmas decorations in one part of Berlin, Germany, even on private property, after officials in the Kreuzberg district banned the display of anything that celebrates the Christian holiday – because someone might be offended. “Why should religious festivals be celebrated in public?” asked Socialist Party Councilor Martin Becker. The censorship was supported by the left-wing councilman as a response to demands by Muslims in the district that they be allowed to celebrate the end of Ramadan in the streets. Due to a fear of noise complaints, council officials decided that...

  State lawmakers in Texas have passed legislation that permits public schools to display nativity scenes, menorahs, or Christmas trees, and allows students and school district staff to use greetings such as, “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Hanukkah,” and “Happy Holidays.” According to Fox News in Austin, the legislation (HB 308), introduced by Rep. Dwayne Bohac (R-Houston) and dubbed “The Merry Christmas Bill,” received overwhelming approval in the state house, by a margin of 145-2, and was passed unanimously in the state senate, 29-0. The bill will now be sent to Gov. Rick Perry (R) for his signature. “I was a...

Schoolchildren in the northern Spanish region of Asturias will no longer be able to call Christmas by its name now that a new law passed by the local education ministry prohibits the use of “religious” terms in the classroom when referring to the December and spring holidays. Teachers and pupils in Asturias classrooms will now have to refer to Christmas as “winter holidays” and Easter as “second term holidays”. The region’s socialist-led government

‘Tis the season for twinkling lights, wrapping paper, and virgin birth. For billions of Christians around the world, the holidays are a time to celebrate Jesus’s birth to the Virgin Mary. But for many animals, virgin birth is far from a miraculous event. Researchers have discovered a growing number of species that reproduce without assistance from the opposite sex. Known formally as parthenogenesis, virgin birth occurs when an embryo develops from an unfertilized egg cell. The development of an embryo usually requires genetic material from sperm and egg, as well as a series of chemical changes sparked by fertilization. In...

A 'gentle, well-respected' organist has died after being subjected to a brutal attack that left him with horrific head injuries. Grandfather Alan Greaves, 68, was on his way to Midnight Mass at St Saviour's CoE church in High Green, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, on Christmas Eve when he was set upon. He was found by a pizza delivery worker collapsed on the pavement outside a primary school just 300 metres from the church. He was rushed to hospital with severe head injuries and underwent a four-hour emergency operation but has since passed away. 'He was a good man and this was...

The only kind of Santa that is allowed Just so that you know that the Saudis are cracking down on the really important crimes, like jihad terrorism -- no, wait... Sharia Alert from the Kingdom of the Two Holy Places: "Saudi detains dozens for 'plotting to celebrate Christmas,'" from al-Akhbar, December 27 (thanks to Blazing Cat Fur): Saudi religious police stormed a house in the Saudi Arabian province of al-Jouf, detaining more than 41 guests for “plotting to celebrate Christmas,” a statement from the police branch released Wednesday night said. The raid is the latest in a string of religious...

...An article on the pagan origins of Christmas...

the children of Great Britain understand far better than their parents the reasons for the collapse of Western Civilization: lack of children, and lack of two-parent heterosexual homes. A poll of British parents showed that topping the list of children’s most-requested Christmas gifts was a sibling (Britain’s birth rate is below replacement levels, with most non-immigrant British children not having a sibling). Slightly lower down on the list was a “dad” – Britain’s single motherhood rate is 21 percent. “Less than half” of single parents have a job, and most live off of state assistance. Seventy percent of the criminals...

Today is Christmas Day. Hanukkah ended nine days ago. New Years Day is seven days from now. Yet... for some explicable reason, Google thinks today is "Holidays." In their description of their Christmas day graphic, Google writes "Happy Holidays from Google." Well thanks, Google that's very nice of you. Very inclusive.

For two millennia, the birth of Christ has been seen as the greatest event in world history. The moment Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem, God became man, and eternal salvation became possible. This date has been the separation point of mankind's time on earth, with B.C. designating the era before Christ, and A.D., anno domino, in the Year of the Lord, the years after. And how stands Christianity today? "Christianity is in danger off being wiped out in its biblical heartlands," says the British think tank Civitas. In Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Ethiopia and Nigeria, Christians face persecution...

"A flag bearing a crescent and star flies from a flagpole in front of the World Trade Center, next to a Christmas tree and a menorah." New York Times, 1997 In 1997, Mohammed T. Mehdi, the head of the Arab-American Committee and the National Council on Islamic Affairs, lobbied to have a crescent and star go up at the World Trade Center during the holiday season. His wish was granted, despite the fact that Mehdi had been an adviser to Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman. In the name of diversity and political correctness, an adviser to the religious leader behind the...

My company, a major metropolitan newspaper, used to host an annual Christmas party for employees. But, this year, the paper broke with tradition, hosting instead a “holiday party,” so as not to offend the sensibilities of those that do not believe Christ the Son of the God. Well, I respect the Constitutionally-protected right of every American to practice a religion other than Christianity, the faith of this nation’s founders. Or to practice no religion whatsoever (which I suspect of many, if not most of my journalistic peers). What I find objectionable, though, is the insistence of non-Christians that the holiday...

In a Christmas message to the nation delivered together with First Lady Michelle Obama, President Barack Obama said that for his family Christmas is “a time to celebrate the birth of Christ” and “learn from His example.” …… You see, the war in Iraq is over. The transition in Afghanistan is underway. After a decade of war, our heroes are coming home. And all across America, military families are reuniting. … … For my family and millions of Americans, it’s a time to celebrate the birth of Christ. To reflect on His life and learn from His example. Every year,...

It may seem strange for a Jew to write about his favorite Christmas memories, but my happiest are from Christmas Eve in the early 1960s, in Johnstown, the town where I grew up in upstate New York. I usually helped out late in my father’s store, wrapping packages and ringing up sales, work that required no familiarity with the merchandise – ladies clothing – of which I had none. I can still make change in my head, but, alas, have lost my package-wrapping skills over the years. Even though I knew there’d be no presents waiting for me under the...

There was a time when 10 Commandment displays sat untouched in government halls and schools, when Nativity scenes were placed in parks and in front of government buildings, and when children sang traditional Christmas songs at holiday concerts. I remember my elementary school calendar, which read, “Christmas Vacation” marking a week or so off for the Christmas season. Slowly and methodically, it’s all disappearing thanks primarily to two organizations that are on a mission to eradicate any vestige of God – particularly Jesus Christ – from the public square. The Madison, Wisconsin based Freedom From Religion Foundation, (FFRF) and American...

For its Dec. 10, 2012 edition, Newsweek featured a story, "What Do We Really Know About Jesus?" A better title might have been, "What does Newsweek know about Jesus?" The gist of the article is that the gospels are full of historical errors; yet nevertheless, "for those with a broader vision, a more generous appreciation of literature, and a fuller sense of theological meaning, the story of the Christ-child and his appearance in the world can be founded not on what really did happen, but on what really does happen, in the lives of those who believe that stories such...