Free Republic

Those who want a new twist on the traditional crèche can buy a 10-piece Hipster Nativity scene that features Joseph sporting a lumberjack beard taking a selfie; baby Jesus and a peace-flashing Mary, holding a Starbucks cup, are included. The three wise men show up on Segways holding Amazon boxes full of presents; there is also a cow draped in a sweater with a “100% Organic” seal on it. This depiction is more trendy than it is offensive. A gun-rights activist in Columbia, South Carolina has hijacked Christmas to make his case defending the Second Amendment. It is the work...

Those who want a new twist on the traditional crèche can buy a 10-piece Hipster Nativity scene that features Joseph sporting a lumberjack beard taking a selfie; baby Jesus and a peace-flashing Mary, holding a Starbucks cup, are included. The three wise men show up on Segways holding Amazon boxes full of presents; there is also a cow draped in a sweater with a “100% Organic” seal on it. A gun-rights activist in Columbia, South Carolina has hijacked Christmas to make his case defending the Second Amendment. It is the work of the Palmetto State Armory. Billboards are being displayed...

Secularists are not necessarily anti-Christmas, but the radicals in their ranks are. At the top of the list is FFRF. Its tactics are twofold: If religious Christmas symbols and events cannot be banned, secular symbols and events must compete with them. Consider the following. For many years, the northern Michigan town of Menominee has displayed a nativity scene on public property. It was taken down this year after a complaint by FFRF. Chicago’s Daley Square has long been host to a life-size nativity scene, and in recent years that spot has been shared with a display by FFRF: it is...

Ask any schoolboy what the meaning of Christmas is, and he will say it celebrates the birth of Jesus. Ask the ideologues at Microsoft, and they will say it means whatever their politics dictate. This year it represents an opportunity to exploit Christmas by pushing the LGBT agenda. Microsoft has released a TV ad, “Art of Harmony,” that is laden with Christmas overtones, yet absent of Christian content. “This holiday season we brought together a group of people who are making a difference in the world,” the ad says. It does not say what holiday is being observed, though we...

SOUTH BEND — The student and parents suing Concord schools over the annual Christmas Spectacular are still seeking a court order barring the school from reverting to older versions of the show that contain live Nativity scenes. In a filing last week in U.S. District Court in South Bend, the anonymous Concord Community Schools student and three parents suing the school district say school officials' promises to use mannequins instead of live actors to depict the Nativity aren't enough. A court filing in the case by the school district in early October says Concord Community Schools Superintendent John Trout and...