Posted on 12/01/2005 10:17:57 AM PST by VU4G10
In city halls and public parks across the country, stories-high evergreens are being erected and decked with glowing lights and sparkling ornaments.
They look - and smell - like Christmas trees. But not so fast.
In places as varied as Chicago, Reno and Prairie Village, Kan., they're "holiday" trees. In other spots, such as Atlanta, they have no name at all.
This year, the tree-name game has sparked a backlash, with some Americans crying humbug and Christian groups threatening lawsuits over what they say is religious discrimination.
Perhaps the most heated debate is brewing in Boston. The city's Parks and Recreation Department ignited a furor when it advertised the lighting of a "Holiday Tree," scheduled for tonight.
People complained, and the Nova Scotia logger who donated the spruce told newspapers he'd rather feed the tree to a wood chipper than call it that. Said Boston Mayor Thomas Menino: "I consider this tree to be a Christmas tree."
Mathew Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, a legal group that focuses on religious issues, said the mayor's use of "Christmas tree" means there's no need to go to court over the issue. His group's Christmas campaign aims to stop what it views as religious censorship and "political correctness run amok." It is endorsed by the Rev. Jerry Falwell.
"It's like calling a menorah a candlestick," Staver said. "It's wrong. It's offensive. And it disenfranchises a large segment of the community."
This week in Washington, D.C., the "Capitol Holiday Tree" was renamed the "Capitol Christmas Tree" at the request of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.
It was called a Christmas tree until the mid-1990s, Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean said. "The Speaker thought it was important to reflect what Americans call their trees, which are Christmas trees," he said.
Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said using the term "Christmas tree" excludes people of other faiths and backgrounds.
"I certainly don't need spiritual sustenance from the government," he said. "I get that in my church."
Respect for diversity is the most common reason given by those that use the term "holiday tree." In the town of Fishers, Ind., officials advertise the annual "tree lighting ceremony," without using the words "Christmas" or "holiday."
"We want to be sensitive to all ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs," said Marc Steczyk, a town spokesman. "We're in the business of treating all people how they should be treated."
Why not take them all the way back to their roots (bad pun) and call them pagan Yule trees in honor of Freya? Or even further back when the custom was to worship other pagan gods.
As Jeremiah warned:
10:1 Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel;
10:2 thus saith the Lord: Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the nations are dismayed at them.
10:3 For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for it is but a tree which one cutteth out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.
10:4 They deck it with silver and with gold, they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
Barry Lynn has an exclusionary and narrow sectarian point of view and should be ignored by all right thinking people.
Obviously not all the neighbors were Jewish, but certainly Jeramiah of all people ought to have been well able to recognize progress.
Last time I looked Christmas was the celebration of the birth of Christ, period. If you do not want to offend people, I suggest you respect the reason for the season, you don't have to believe or participate, but please, have the same respect for the majority of America, that you demand we have for you. Merry Christmas.
So, would superglue be okay?
Like I've said on other posts:
Christians should just keep Christmas very simple next year -- forgo the decorating, buy just a few things for the kids, focus on the message of Jesus, and keep the holy day as a time of fellowhsip with church, family and friends.
Unplug from the shopping and see what the stores do then.
In our township in Atlantic County, NJ it is not even called a "Holiday" Tree. The announcement that went home to children asked them to join in the Tree Lighting Ceremony.
What if people are offended by MLK day? After all, he was a Christian minister.
Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said..."I certainly don't need spiritual sustenance from the government," he said. "I get that in my church."Myass.
I think that's the solution.
Unplug from the shopping. From the crass lights (as much as I do love to look at them) and tacky blow-up yard decorations.
Maybe just a few angels and a nativity scene for decoration.
The stores love the money from the season, but not the reason. That's what we have to fight. I mean, if they don't want to acknowledge the reason, why are we letting ourselves be taken in by them?
As Bill O'Reilly said the other day (or night) "These stores should be thanking God Jesus was born."
What other ethnic background and religious beliefs have decorated pine trees in December? If you want to be sensitive, why have decorated trees in the first place? Don't put any up at all. These decorations are Christmas Trees, and should be called as such.
Exactly. When these protesters get Christmas Day off from their employers or schools, do they also raise a fuss? Do they say to their employers, this time from work offends me?
"I certainly don't need spiritual sustenance from the government," he said. "I get that in my church."
Have a Merry Christmas Barry.
Poor, sick, deluded man, doomed to eternity in Hell's fire. Wish him bonvoyage!
My thought exactly.
Soon that word will be expunged.
Shades of "1984" again.
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