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Good Will Took a Holiday, Whatever You Call It (Religion in the Public Square)
New York Times ^ | December 18, 2005 | PAUL VITELLO

Posted on 12/18/2005 7:51:03 PM PST by nickcarraway

At a Christmas tree lighting ceremony recently in Manhasset, N.Y., a crowd of 200 gasped at the intemperate words uttered by a public official who was angry at a priest for an invocation the official considered too religious.

In Huntington in nearby Suffolk County, people are still fuming about the lawsuit filed last week to remove the crèche and the menorah displayed on the village green.

In Florida, rather than a complaint about too much religion, conservative Christian lawyers brought suits recently against two towns whose holiday displays on public property the lawyers considered too secular.

The suits demanded that Nativity scenes be placed there, and they were.

If nothing quite says holiday spirit to you like family tension and the perennial rehashing of old scores, then this might be your kind of holiday season.

With a new aggressiveness, some conservative Christian groups have declared war this year against what they see as an attack of secularization on Christmas, using boycotts and lawsuits to invoke the baby Jesus and the words "Merry Christmas" with an unusual fervor.

At the same time, members of other religious groups and civil libertarians have mounted a resistance to what they see as a creeping imposition of religion on public and commercial places, in a few cases filing suits of their own.

But in the vast middle - in that central core of the population where people shop and the Chipmunks sing, and contradictory notions live in peace, and the Festival of Lights shares deep and undisputed psychic space with the glittering Christmas tree - there is a sense of impending loss.

If the bellicose atmosphere of national politics can infect even this season of childhood and enchantment, as this thinking goes, we are all in some kind of big trouble.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: New York
KEYWORDS: christmas; godhaters; manhasset; moralabsolutes; publicsquare; religion; waronchristmas

1 posted on 12/18/2005 7:51:05 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway
If the bellicose atmosphere of national politics can infect even this season of childhood and enchantment, as this thinking goes, we are all in some kind of big trouble.

What utter biased rot. If the Liberals hadn't tried to bully Christmas out of the public square, we wouldn't have to fight them.

Once again, the Leftists and their sympathizers ignore the fact that their patently anti-American, anti-Christian actions caused this conflict. And no, we should never assent to their secularizing the holiday of the birth of Christ.

I say it's about damned time those idiots be made to practice some of the "tolerance" that they profess to possess in abundance.

2 posted on 12/18/2005 7:55:18 PM PST by Prime Choice (We are RepubliCANs, not RepubliCAN'Ts.)
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To: Prime Choice

You took the words out of my mouth. They sound like the schoolyard bully who hits you in the eye without warning and then starts blubbering and whining and runs to the teacher the minute you hit him back.


3 posted on 12/18/2005 7:58:43 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: nickcarraway
If the bellicose atmosphere of national politics can infect even this season of childhood and enchantment, . . .

Reading various newspaper articles and advertisments, the unwillingness to use "Christmas" was jarring. It almost as though it wa a dirty word.

4 posted on 12/18/2005 7:59:06 PM PST by Tribune7
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Comment #5 Removed by Moderator

To: confederatetrappedinmidwest

Merry Christmas to all of you from Mexico.


6 posted on 12/18/2005 8:11:30 PM PST by rovenstinez
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To: rovenstinez

merry Christmas!


7 posted on 12/18/2005 8:13:55 PM PST by Mount Athos
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To: nickcarraway

"Aggressiveness" , eh? When atheists and ACLU 'ers file lawsuits, is it EVER described in terms like "aggressiveness"?? No bias here, folks!!/s


8 posted on 12/18/2005 8:31:06 PM PST by Frank_2001
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To: nickcarraway
... the bellicose atmosphere of national politics ...

Translation: If you right wing nut cases and religious wackos will just stop resisting and let we NORMAL PEOPLE (translation within a translation: = Leftist wackos) run things, then everything will be fine.

9 posted on 12/18/2005 8:34:15 PM PST by Babu
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To: confederatetrappedinmidwest

Agreed, and it's great we finally started confronting those wackos, Many were mistaken in bending over backwards in the beginning (in the name of political correctness), give 'em an inch, they'll take a yard and then they want to change the culture? Good to say at last, "we will not let that happen"!


10 posted on 12/18/2005 8:40:18 PM PST by Frank_2001
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To: rovenstinez

And a very Merry Christmas to You & Yours from Taiwan.


11 posted on 12/18/2005 9:24:44 PM PST by Khurkris ("Hell, I was there"...Elmer Keith.)
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To: nickcarraway


...ATheism is a religion...


12 posted on 12/18/2005 11:08:01 PM PST by Tzimisce
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To: nickcarraway
To the New York Times and all leftist, anti-Christians out there:

MERRY
CHRISTMAS !

Rejoice, a Saviour is born this day !

13 posted on 12/18/2005 11:36:33 PM PST by TheCrusader ("The frenzy of the mohammedans has devastated the Churches of God" Pope Urban II ~ 1097A.D.)
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To: nickcarraway

We had our big family Christmas party today. My daughter's new mother in law pointedly said "Happy Holidays" even though IT WAS A CHRISTMAS PARTY and everyone was telling each other Merry Christmas. We all just ignored it and hugged her and said, "Merry Christmas."


14 posted on 12/19/2005 1:05:52 AM PST by Mercat (Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year, oh, and Happy Holy Days)
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To: nickcarraway

I love how Christmas Day is referred to as 'the Holiday' in business. I just merrily say the "C" word.


15 posted on 12/19/2005 7:18:29 AM PST by jjm2111 (Whatever you do, don't say the "C" word!)
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To: Prime Choice

" What utter biased rot. If the Liberals hadn't tried to bully Christmas out of the public square, we wouldn't have to fight them.

Once again, the Leftists and their sympathizers ignore the fact that their patently anti-American, anti-Christian actions caused this conflict. And no, we should never assent to their secularizing the holiday of the birth of Christ.

I say it's about damned time those idiots be made to practice some of the "tolerance" that they profess to possess in abundance."


Dittos


16 posted on 12/19/2005 7:20:27 AM PST by sasafras ("Licentiousness destroyes order, and when chaos ensues, the yearning for order will destroy freedom.)
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To: nickcarraway

All of this would be a moot point if only the major Christian denominations would agree to move the celebration of Jesus' birth to the time of year when "shepherds watch their flocks by night" in the Holy Land. Then the secularists could have their "Hollyday" with Frosty and Rudolf and all the other mythical creatures (and all the commercialized gift-giving one can stand), and Christians could celebrate a "holy day"/holiday.


17 posted on 12/19/2005 7:28:16 AM PST by pawdoggie
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To: nickcarraway
This is just the typical crap from Liberal HQ, i.e. the NYT.

Just give up Christians and Conservatives, then there won't be any unpleasantness. After all, can't we all just get along?

And it works. There always some supposed Conservative commentator or person on FR who will say...

"Well, I'm a conservative but I think all fighting needs to stop, blah, blah...."

Meanwhile, the ACLU and the left-wingers are laughing at what wimpy boobs, conservatives are.
18 posted on 12/19/2005 8:07:30 AM PST by rcocean (Copyright is theft and loved by Hollywood socialists)
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