Posted on 12/23/2004 12:50:34 PM PST by Diago
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| Published: Friday, December 24, 2004 |
Merry C-------s! A politically correct primer |
By Sean M. Wright |
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In the middle of detailing the horrors the Roman emperor Decius loosed on Christians in AD 250 for a book I'm writing, a friend sent round an Internet story concerning the latest battles in the war against Christmas, part of the effort to entomb Christ with boulders of legalism. ---The Woodbury, N.J., school board has forbidden a high school's brass ensemble to play Christmas carols at their "winter holiday" concert --- not even as instrumentals. Mention of Jesus, angels and even Santa Claus will not be tolerated. Well, it's a slippery slope, getting presents from Santa to devoting your soul to Jesus, you know. ---From Mayor Joe Curtatone of Somerville, Mass.: "A press release issued from my office last week mistakenly identified this month's City Holiday Party as a 'Christmas Party.' I apologize for the mistake and to anyone who was offended by it." When did Christmas, the feast of "peace on earth," become an obscenity? ---A high school principal in Kirkland, Wash., has cancelled a performance of A Christmas Carol, citing concern that Tiny Tim's line, "God bless us, everyone," might unduly promote the cause of religion. This is as nonsensical as believing that, if you read Dickens' narrative backward, you'll discover that Scrooge was Jack the Ripper. ---A Beverly, Mass., elementary school production, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is now "How the Grinch Stole the Holidays" and Santa is called "the holiday fairy." Methinks the principal of this school/Has been made the unwitting tool/Of anti-Christians. So now it's a cinch,/His bigoted policy out-grinches the Grinch. This is not the first time Christmas has been under attack in America. In Puritan New England, celebrating Christmas was a crime. Anyone making mince pies or plum puddings was fined --- but this was in the 1600s, before "freedom of religion" became a cherished American constitutional virtue. At least Decius was honest. He fought against Christ in the open. Today's persecutors mendaciously hide behind "political correctness" --- as specious a term as Auschwitz' motto, "Work Will Make You Free." The War against Christmas is a tactic of the new fascism: a culturally hedonistic barbarism, a sensual gluttony that Pope John Paul II has aptly entitled "the culture of death." Political correctness has become its major tool, subverting constitutional guarantees by encouraging "aggrieved parties" to bring to court what, in more enlightened ages, would have tossed out as frivolous lawsuits. The culture of death's greatest enemy is the intact, loving Family. Depravity has a hard time existing there. So what better than, at Christmas, to make an all-out "legal" assault on the Holy Family, the ideal of all families? A cadre of like-thinking judges force compliance to the will of this vocal, fanatic secular materialist minority, handing down opinions to implement social engineering instead of sound legal decisions. Invariably even neutral public activities sponsored by religion are banned, since any mention of Jesus is a reminder that fetal murder, euthanasia, and sexual deviancy are evils in the eyes of God. Judges are not above supporting evil in the name of "legality." The Nuremberg trials showed how judges habitually pointed to Nazi-initiated laws to prove Hitler's national extermination policies were "legal." And let's not forget the postwar show trials of Cardinals Stepinac and Mindszenty who had acted so heroically in Eastern Europe against the Nazis. When they also vigorously opposed the Communist tyranny, they were accused of treason. Stalin may have pulled the strings but the condemnations were handed down by judges from Croatia and Hungary. All done within legal form; all according to writ, but always contravening basic human rights, making a mockery of the majesty of justice impartially applied. Today's politically correct fascism manipulates laws and regulations to legislate against tolerance and common sense, encouraging various segments of the population to be offended at practices that never bothered them before. This practice insults the intelligence of reasonable individuals, while baffling the folks being "protected," who are too often unaware of being insulted in the first place. The problem is not confined to America. A 2003 law passed in Great Britain --- a country whose Anglican denomination is supported by taxes --- ended distribution of hot cross buns to school children during Lent, a tradition dating to the 1300s, since the pastries might offend non-Christians. Jewish congregations and Moslem councils expressed their dismay at being used as political pawns, having made no complaint against the practice. Within the culture of death, if there is no complaint, invent one. This fatal philosophy denies the possibility of eternal life with a God of infinite and absolute goodness. Yet, recent polls show these same possibilities are held by more than 90 percent of Americans. So the culture of death doesn't legitimately represent the beliefs shared by a whopping majority of citizens, which is the proper goal of democratic law. Speaking of democracy, the Cupertino, Calif., school board has excluded the Declaration of Independence as a teaching aid because it mentions "Nature's God." Isn't this attempt to rewrite history the same "censorship" loudly decried when applied to sexually explicit activity in films? Junk science is another tool employed by the culture of death. Margaret Sanger began Planned Parenthood as a eugenics program, hoping, through birth control and abortion, to rid the U.S. of undesirables whose forebears were African and Jewish. She promoted her "freedom from pregnancy" programs among Irish and Hispanic Catholic immigrants she saw threatening the Yankee Protestant status quo. Sanger even visited Hitler in Germany. Her suggestions to Der Fuhrer about how to best implement his extermination policies were loudly trumpeted in her own publications --- until Dec. 7, 1941. Big Brother's watching, but it's not the military-industrial complex we were against. Big Brother's the same people who warned us in the first place The culture of death knows no party. It's composed of liberals and conservatives gathered from Ronald Reagan's "Me Generationers" to Hillary Clinton's "Nanny-Staters." Political correctness is really political tolerance of moral degradation. It is politically intolerant of anything opposing its rampant societal selfishness, including God, common sense and basic human decency. This situation strongly reminds me of the "Twilight Zone" episode, "The Obsolete Man." Romney Wordsworth, a librarian, is on trial for his life. Since there are no more books, there are no libraries, the Chancellor of the State informs him. So, without books a librarian is as obsolete as the nonexistent God. "There is a God," Wordsworth insists. The Chancellor suavely chuckles, "There is no God. The State has proven there is no God." Wordsworth's heartfelt retort is too chillingly relevant today: "You cannot erase God by edict!" Yet this is what the culture of death has in mind. Political correctness wants to erase Christ. That's why the people who fought tooth and nail against "The Passion of the Christ" are now out to kill Christmas. They seem to be unaware that, as G. K. Chesterton pointed out, Jesus Christ is used to dying. He's also well known for rising from the dead. Sean M. Wright, a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, Santa Clarita, lectures on Catholic history and art at schools and parishes. He can be reached at FriarTuk49@AOL.com. |
I personally find the lack of Christmas displays and not using the word "Christmas" to name the Holiday is a government endorsement of atheism - a religous belief. This violates the separation of Church and State.
He's also well known for rising from the dead.
Great article!
I said it in another thread, but I'll repeat it!!!
The concerted efforts to take Christmas away come from people who are militanly anti-religious, to the point of fanaticism.
My uncle is a lefty and a religious skeptic, but when Christmas comes, he decorates his house like the best of them.
It proves that you don't need to be overly religious to enjoy the season.
I believe the school boards of America have collectively lost their minds
I shudder to think who will be playing the fairy.
Rediculous liberal, post-modern, anti-Christian, anti-Constitution, multicultural nonsense BTTT
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Dear Friend of ACU:
Why would the liberal left declare all out war on Christmas?
Every year we hear isolated reports of politically correct grinches lashing out at Christmas. It has become a certainty -- like death and taxes.
But this year is different. It's as if the flood gates were suddenly opened. Attacks against Christmas seem to be coming at us from all directions.
What's wrong with Christmas?
What's wrong with "Peace on Earth" and "Goodwill Toward Men?"
It seems crazy -- but there is no mistaking the fact that the liberal left is attacking Christmas with a zeal that is vile, overwhelming and unprecedented.
After Action Report--Maplewood NJ "Illegal" Christmas Caroling Protest, 12.21.04
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1306328/posts -- In Maplewood New Jersey, the Columbus High School brass ensemble was ordered not to play a single Christmas carol at their holiday concert.
-- In Denver, officials of the annual Parade of Lights refused to allow a float bearing the banner "Merry Christmas", but allowed a float honoring homosexual American Indians.
-- Macy's has banned the phrase "Merry Christmas" in all stores nationwide.
-- Target stores have declared the Salvation Army "persona non grata." The new policy will cost the Salvation $9 million this year.
-- School children in Lake County, Illinois were barred from singing Christmas carols on the bus.
-- In Kirkland, Washington a production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol was halted.
-- According to The American Center for Law and Justice, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a directive forbidding the erection of nativity scenes in senior homes.
-- In Mustang, Oklahoma, school officials banned the singing of Silent Night.
Still not convinced? There's more:
-- In King County, Washington, public library administrators banned Christmas trees in library branches. Fortunately, the library board struck down the policy.
-- The American Civil Liberties Union took the city of Cranston, Rhode Island, to court for daring to erect religious and secular Christmas displays on the front lawn of City Hall.
-- Officials in Georgia ordered a privately owned amusement park to nix any holiday entertainment shows that mentioned the religious meaning of Christmas.
-- A local school in Pennsylvania set up a holiday display that included a crèche, a menorah, and a Kwanzaa scene, but the principal demanded that -- you guessed it -- only the crèche be removed.
Obviously, there's much more, but you get the picture.
Why do liberals have such a deep-seated abiding hatred of Christmas? Why is Christmas such a threat? Why do they want Christmas dead?
I could write a book on the subject, but for the sake of brevity, I'll state the theory as concisely as possible.
The one thing that separates the United States from most of the nations of the world is our belief that our rights are not granted by the State but are bestowed on us by God.
And we believe that it is the duty of the State to secure these inalienable rights.
And whether you are a Christian, a Jew, a Buddhist or even an Atheist, the freedoms you enjoy are secured by this belief.
The State cannot take away your rights because the State did not bestow them.
However, many liberals believe that a utopian society and true equality for all men can only be achieved if the State has the power to subvert the rights and freedoms of the individual for the common good.
Liberals understand that their flawed dreams of utopia can only be realized in the United States if all vestiges of religion are removed from the public arena.
To them, the eradication of Christmas is not a trivial matter. They're deadly serious.
What better way to strike back at the "Red States" for re-electing George Bush than to destroy our most cherished holiday?
Join me and use the hyperlink below to send your personalized Blast Fax message to the Leadership of the House and Senate. Several weeks ago, when the Pentagon caved-in to the extortive tactics of the ACLU directed against the Boy Scouts -- you made your voice heard and Congress not only passed an immediate resolution in support of the Boy Scouts, but both houses of Congress put forth legislation in support of the Scouts. Urge our leaders to take similar steps to protect the time honored tradition of Christmas.
Commentary:
Political correctness creeps into Christmas in small-town New Hampshire http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=48486 |
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