Posted on 12/12/2005 9:28:10 AM PST by indcons
Yes, Virginia, there is a Christmas war -- or so the culture warriors would have us believe.
It's all about "happy holidays" vs. "Merry Christmas" -- the politically correct vs. the religiously correct. One side goes too far by renaming the Christmas trees, while the other side goes overboard by attacking people who thought they were just being nice.
This year the Christmas crusaders appear to be winning: holiday is out, Christmas is in.
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert got the message. By order of the speaker, the decorated tree on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol -- known in recent years as the "Holiday Tree" -- will be rechristened "Capitol Christmas Tree."
Meanwhile in Georgia, state officials nearly started a skirmish by issuing "holiday greetings." But 30 minutes later they redeemed themselves by re-issuing "Christmas greetings."
Did the president and first lady miss the memo? The 2005 White House Christmas card arrives this week with "best wishes for a holiday season of hope and happiness," but nary a mention of Christmas. Religious conservatives are outraged.
William Donahue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights was quoted in The Washington Post as saying: "This clearly demonstrates that the Bush administration has suffered a loss of will and that they have capitulated to the worst elements in our culture."
While politicians are getting bashed for avoiding the "C" word, business owners are facing boycotts. After Jerry Falwell and others started a "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign," down came the "holiday tree" banners at Lowe's and up went the "Christmas tree" signs. And you'll now see and hear a lot more "Merry Christmas" at Target, Sears, Best Buy and other retailers under fire for omitting Christmas. (Note the irony of committed Christians defending the commercial Christmas.)
Even though batteries of Christian lawyers are threatening to "save Christmas" by suing the "happy holidays" offenders, most of these fights aren't First Amendment issues. It would only be an establishment-clause problem if government or school officials used the holiday to promote religion. But since Christmas is also a national holiday and courts tend to view Christmas trees and Santa as secular symbols, the government can put up decorated trees and call them whatever they like.
Private businesses, of course, aren't the government (and thus not subject to First Amendment restrictions). So they're free to promote or ignore religion if they wish. But merchants worry about alienating customers during the biggest shopping season of the year -- and few things divide people more than religion. Unfortunately, trying not to offend one group has offended another.
John Gibson of Fox News, among others, sees the cultural shift from "Christmas" to "holiday" as a "liberal plot." But it strikes me as mostly well-meaning attempts by educators, politicians and average citizens to acknowledge our diversity -- and by business owners to sell as much as possible to people of all faiths and none. Let's give these folks some credit for not wanting fellow Americans to feel like outsiders in their own communities.
If all sides take a deep breath and relax, we can work this out. But first we need to stop turning "happy holidays" or "Merry Christmas" into fighting words.
Declaring a ceasefire in the Christmas wars might be the best way to celebrate the season of "peace on earth, goodwill toward men."
Charles C. Haynes is senior scholar at the Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center. E-mail him at chaynes@freedomforum.org.
Although other issues get lost in the silly, over-the-top arguments over innocuous holiday salutations and what to call the tree, Gibson, Falwell and other Christmas warriors do raise more substantive concerns. When government and school officials decide that being "inclusive" means including everything but the religious Christmas, they take concern for diversity to absurd lengths. Ignoring religion isn't being neutral; it comes across as hostility.
According to e-mails I've gotten from parents this month, some public schools think they can avoid conflict by avoiding anything that smacks of religion. One complained about a school policy ordering all staff to refer to the Christmas tree as the "sharing tree" (though what that accomplishes isn't clear since a Christmas tree is a Christmas tree by any other name).
Another was upset when her child brought home artwork featuring Santa, Kwanza and Menorahs -- but no crèches allowed. Most schools I know do better than this, but it only takes a few bad stories to paint all schools as part of a "war on Christmas."
Some communities fall into the same trap by trying to celebrate the season by excluding Jesus. Denver was the poster child for this mistake last year when city officials banned a religious float from participating in the annual Parade of Lights. All kinds of "holiday" floats were approved, but not the one from a local church.
After a major brouhaha, the city has seen the light. This year the Nativity scene will be featured on a float created by local Christian groups.
What schools and communities need to remember is that the First Amendment separates church from state, but not religion from school assemblies or holiday parades. Of course, city and school officials have no business promoting religion in December or at any other time of year. But allowing all private religious groups to express their faith at public events or in public spaces along with other groups doesn't violate the Constitution. And educationally sound teaching about religion, including what Christians actually believe about Christmas or including religious music in the school concert along with other music, is not only constitutional -- it's a good idea.
Right! And it's been going on for some time. I think they thought they had gotten away with it.... until now.
Anyone calling a Christmas tree a "sharing tree" not only sounds like an idiot but in my opinion is an idiot.
America is over 85% Christian, and many of those who are not Christian want to see the majority religion suppressed. Apparently, they are very concerned about making Christians "feel like outsiders" in their own (Christian) nation.
Saw a Target ad on TV last night. It showed on screen and in plain english "Merry Christmas" at the end of the ad.
Amazing leap in logic.....
Kwaanza is made up BS that was made up by a black panther thug who should be in San Quentin sitting beside Tookie instead of being an affirmative action baby teaching at UCLA. Therefore IMO, teaching kids to celebrate it is as evil as having kids read tookie's so-called "childrens'" books and thus learn to sympathize with a mass murderer.
Either that or the squeaky wheel gets greased, I always get those mixed up. :)
Herod failed to eliminate Christ, and so will they. This war was already won 2000 years ago when someone who was more than a man walked out of His tomb.
Here in Wisconsin, home of the Freedom FROM Religion Foundation, our "Holiday Tree" has a plaque in front of it designed by them. It's on the second level of the Capitol Rotunda and says "There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds." This isn't about "inclusion", this is an assault on religion PERIOD. And our state government sanctions it.
Where's Dyna-Girl? I remember you being a dynamic duo.
You should take pictures of that plaque and send them to Bill O'Riely and any one else who's fighting against the CHRISTmas haters. Because the CHIRSTmas haters are trying to claim there "is" no attack on Christmas or anything Christian.
Actually it's "Peace on earth towards men of goodwill."
No it's not, particularly not if you live in a 50% Jewish area, like I grew up in (and I was Lutheran). Should I forcefully wish a "Merry Christmas" to people like my friends the Goldbergs who I know for a fact only celebrate Hanukkah?
Happy Holidays is a way of wishing good cheer to people when you don't know what they celebrate. It includes Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and whatever else people may celebrate this time of year.
When someone wishes me "Happy Holidays", I interpret it as "Merry Christmas" since that's what I practice. And when I greet my Christian friends, I wish them Merry Christmas. And when I see my Jewish friends, I wish them Happy Hannukkah. And when I see people whose religious views I'm unfamiliar with I wish them Happy Holidays.
I completely don't understand why people have their panties in such a knot about this. Don't we have far more important things to quibble about than an annual greeting, the form of which is ticking off the politically correct on BOTH sides of the issue?
LQ
I also don't understand much of this.
I'll stipulate that a Christmas Tree should always be called a Christmas Tree- because that is what it is- and to call it anything else including Holiday Tree is just plain stupid.
But to get excited because on Dec 5th, Dec 12th, weeks before Christmas, when you went into a grocery store for coffee and toilet paper, or to an electronic store for that DVD player, the clerk wished you a Happy Holiday is just plain insane.
When I first started hearing people use Happy Holidays well before Christmas I assumed it was to include both Christmas and New Years, I never thought it was anything anti Christmas.
A "sharing tree" is a really silly name for it. I just can't understand why people can't leave it alone. Do any other religions have a tradition of sticking an evergreen tree in their houses and putting decorations on it? No? Then it's a Christmas tree, not a holiday tree. Next thing you know, we'll be told to change the name of Easter Eggs.
Some people won't feel content until you DO with the Goldbergs a "Merry Christmas" and demand they wish it to you back, otherwise we're living through a new national Inquisition intended to rid our country of all Christian faith.
Or something.
The only thing that makes this tiresome "war" tolerable is that we know it ends in two weeks and people can go back to obsessing over their neighbors' lawns.
I agree with you. I wrote Farah at WND a strong e-mail saying that I really disagreed with his tirade over the Presidential Christmas card. It was way over the top.
"we should insist equal time for Festivus!"
On this issue, it seems that a lot of people are already celebrating Festivus--- especially the Airing of the Grievances!
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