Posted on 12/14/2005 4:44:20 AM PST by DogByte6RER
Hot frogs at Christmas
By: RICK REISS - For The Californian
Have you heard the urban legend about putting a frog into a pot of boiling water? If you haven't, it goes something like this: A frog placed in water that is gradually brought to boil will make no attempt to escape. On the other hand a frog placed directly into boiling water will make every effort to escape.
This folklore has no scientific backing, but it is a good metaphor to describe the gradual eroding of American liberties by paternalistic government and political correctness. Simply put, complacency gets you burned.
In the latest culture war battle over Christmas in the public sector, it appears that the proverbial frog has finally broken with tradition and jumped out of the hot pot. The public has overwhelmingly leaped to the following conclusion: Secular attacks on Christmas should stop.
Several years ago, San Diego's Balboa Park renamed its annual "Christmas on the Prado" to the politically correct "December Nights." One San Diegan, Anthony Porello, is spearheading the effort to return the event to its original name, along with defenders of the Mount Soledad Cross.
To the chagrin of the politically correct crowd, the city of Encinitas jumped out of this boiling secular brew and renamed its December parade the "Encinitas Christmas Parade." In addition, the Alliance Defense Fund stands ready to defend Christmas with a network of 800 Christian attorneys. The ADF plans to vigorously oppose any attempts to censor Christmas in public schools or on public property.
Secularists might suggest that this is just knee-jerk, right-wing reactions to policies of tolerance and diversity. Sorry, that's not even close.
Recently a Wisconsin public school was put on legal notice for censoring the Christmas song "Silent Night." The school rewrote the song to secularize it while keeping the same tune.
Such censorship brings to mind not Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" but rather George Orwell's "1984." In Orwell's secularized world, the Ministry of Truth rewrote history to conform to the will of Big Brother.
The simple truth is that Christmas is a legal federal holiday enacted by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1870. The observance of Christmas reflects America's Judeo-Christian heritage since our founding. Of course, this current battle over Christmas is just part of the larger cultural war in our society.
A San Diego judge recently invalidated the election saving the Mount Soledad Cross. Seventy-five percent of the electorate voted to keep the war memorial by transferring it to the federal government. This imperious judicial ruling delighted the secular left.
Another outrage is occurring in Utah. Atheists are suing to remove roadside memorial crosses where Utah Highway Patrol officers were killed in the line of duty.
Surely there must be a cross at Grant's Tomb. Since even the dead are no longer beyond the reach of secularized political correctness, is the sanitizing of Grant's final resting place to reflect "tolerance" and "diversity" just over the horizon? Not without a fight.
Merry Christmas.
Rick Reiss of Temecula is a regular columnist for The Californian. E-mail: RickReiss6@netscape.net.
Tell it like it is Brother Rick!
Kids can wear "Bush is a Terrorist" t-shirts to school, but not one with a Christmas tree on it?
Seems a bit one-sided to me.
People are fed up to their ears with this crap.
It isnt right for a small percentage of people who are offended to offend the greater portion of America and get away with it.
As for the Frog "Call Mythbusters" I can see them now doing this one on TV.
""United we stand, divided we fall." -- Aesop
This is all I need to know that 'multiculturalism' is a false ideology and one which our enemies are using to conquer America. Multiculturalism is evil.
If they are offended then there are many other places on the planet they can live.
It's not about being "offended". That's just the new whine word that the liberals use to put a guilt trip on others so they can get their way. They just learned what weapon to use in the battle against God.
We have ONE culture here in America, Judeo-Christian. Not secularism, not atheism, not multiculturalism. We speak English, not Spanish, Arabic or any other language. We salute the flag and say the 'pledge of allegiance'. We know that God gave us our rights and that those rights are protected by the constitution, not the other way around. We know the Bill Of Rights, The Constitution and the Declaration Of Independence. We honor and support our veterans for on their bloodied backs we live in freedom. We say 'Merry Christmas' not Happy Holidays. We work hard and are not parasites to our countrymen and women 'ahem…to those living off our HARD EARNED tax dollars'. We have pride in ourselves and our country because we recognize how good our country is. We have faith in God not government. We are AMERICANS and we do not take kindly to anyone trying to destroy our country, subvert our rights, mock our values, attack our interests, or harm our friends! We are AMERICANS and we stand united! May God Continue To Bless America!
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