First of all, the idea that the public celebration of the 25th day of december (the ancient pagan winter solstice celebration and solar new year) is the one thing standing between America's chr*stian heritage and secular humanism is nonsense. If you want to see how chr*stmas is celebrated in truly chr*stian cultures then go to Greece or Portugal or Italy or Armenia, where there is no Santa Claus, no conspicuous consumption, and no raucous parties (as a matter of fact, Armenians and some Eastern Orthodox celebrate it on a different day!). Plus I note that chr*stmas isn't even the biggest chr*stian holiday--e*ster is. Where is America's public chr*stianity when e*ster draws near? It's invisible. E*ster is celebrated within homes and churches with no appeal to the great mob of chr*stian-in-name-only hangers-on. In fact, e*ster, the holiest day of the chr*stian year, is only a little bit more visible than Pentecost. Has anyone here heard of Pentecost?
And btw, Medved is correct--trees are not the chr*stian counterpart of the chanukkiyyah, an inherently religious and "sectarian" symbol. If we're going to have true equality among religions then there should be a creche in every public place where there is a chanukkiyyah.
Okay, that's for the pro-chr*stmas crowd. As for the anti-'s:
Why is it that the people who protest chr*stmas celebrate halloween, St. Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and m*rdi gras with such enthusiasm? Why doesn't the ACLU attack the city of New Orleans for institutionalizing chr*stianity in the form of the pre-lenten celebration? Shoot, so far as I know no liberal has called for a ban on the annual White House e*ster egg rolling contest. And for that matter, for all the brouhaha, I guarantee you that no one has called for removing 12/25 from the list of official federal holidays. Shoot, back in the nineteenth century Richard Mentor Johnson (a Kentucky "redneck" and Martin Van Buren's vice-president) said that the mail should run on sunday and that "religion and irreligion have equal rights in the United States." Yet practically no one has heard of this fact before.
As I said in an earlier post, why is it that no liberal has any qualms about wishing others a happy new year on j*n*ary 1 when this isn't the new year in all cultures? Where does multiculturalism go after 12/25? In fact, why are people trying to balance chr*stmas with ramadan when ramadan ended months ago? And don't even get me started on when Chanukkah comes early, like late november! In those years Chanukkah is absolutely and totally ignored until chr*stmas draws near when all of a sudden the decorations go up along side Frosty the Snowman (to show how multicultural we are) and everyone has to tack a "happy Chanukkah" to "merry chr*stmas" for the same reason! What kind of "sensitivity" is that? To treat ignore Chanukkah when it's here and then treat it like a chr*stmas decoration later?
Just as chr*stmas isn't the biggest chr*stian holiday, Chanukkah is far from the biggest Jewish holiday. It is in fact one of the two minor holidays enacted by the Sages (the other being Purim, which is always obscured by shamrocks), yet it is the only Jewish holiday many non-Jewish Americans know about. Calendars that don't mark Shavu`ot or Sukkot or the last day of Passover all mark the first day and last day of Chanukkah. Don't get me wrong; the true message of Chanukkah is very important and very different from the enlightenment-rationalistic nonsense we so often hear, but the inflation of Chanukkah to a position higher than that of holidays and festivals decreed by the Mouth of G-d from Mt. Sinai is actually a change brought about under the influence of chr*stmas.
The holiest time of the Jewish year is the High Holy Days of Ro'sh HaShanah (the Jewish new year and anniversary of the creation of Adam) and Yom Kippur, which occur in the fall--when they are absolutely buried under the American mania for halloween. Where are the complaints? Where are the threatened lawsuits? Where is the ACLU when some village courthouse decorates a pumpkin without also blowing a shofar?
Finally, as I have said time and time again, the context of the debate is all wrong. We should be studying to see what G-d's Laws have to say about all this. Instead, we get this "This is a chr*stian country!" argument that is nothing vore than a conservative version of the leftist mantra "deze are de wayz of our pipplez!" What does G-d have to say about ritual trees like asherot and m*ypoles? Hmmm? But unfortunately, as with smoking, liberal hostility provokes an automatic, unthinking response of "anything the liberals don't like must be wonderful!" And as for the liberal side of the "cultural" debate, they do not treat all cultures equally. They work to suppress the majority or "host" culture while clamoring for public acknowledgements of minority or "guest" cultures. Yet once again, this whole argument leaves G-d's objective standards out of the argument. Meanwhile, a small group of Chasidim in California have begun a tractarian movement to hand out literature arguing against the observance of chr*stmas based not on liberal but on Theocratic arguments, and they are treated like pariahs by everyone--very much including liberal Jews who support the ACLU's hypocritical anti-chr*stmas crusade!
Jews and Judaeophilic chr*stians, please be aware that there are sinister forces at work to destroy your alliance. These forces range from islam to anti-Semitic chr*stianity to Jewish liberals who are embarrassed because they don't like to be reminded that their ancestors were the original "rubes" and "yahoos." These forces work overtime this time of year to pit you against each other and to destroy Fundamentalist chr*stian support for Israel. But be aware, pro-Israel chr*stians, that the moment 12/25 passes you will go right back to having nothing in common with anti-Semitic chr*stians who prefer Constantine to Solomon, Rome or Constantinople to Jerusalem, teh writings of medieval saints to the inerrant Word of G-d. These "friends" of yours who are so up in arms about the war on chr*stmas will go right back to promoting evolution and the idea that the "old testament" is mythology and parable, and you will be alone again. Don't fall for it. I'm begging you, don't fall for it.
Everyone needs to think long and hard about this fight to death over a holiday that is more European than Biblical and whose liberal opponents are so blatantly hypocritical that they probably wouldn't blink at a public e*ster celebration.
Preemptive apologies to you, wideawake, for some of the things in this post, but I wanted you to read this!
Well said. Totally with you on that.
But be aware, pro-Israel chr*stians, that the moment 12/25 passes you will go right back to having nothing in common with anti-Semitic chr*stians who prefer Constantine to Solomon, Rome or Constantinople to Jerusalem, [the] writings of medieval saints to the inerrant Word of G-d. These "friends" of yours who are so up in arms about the war on chr*stmas will go right back to promoting evolution and the idea that the "old testament" is mythology and parable, and you will be alone again. Don't fall for it. I'm begging you, don't fall for it.
We're doin' good until the second sentence, which gives the impression that Christians who actually attempt to follow the word of God cannot possibly be the same ones offended by secular, Jewish or legalist activists trying to suppress public expression of Christian symbols. And that they are cultivating or elevating the opinions of "friends" who are obviously uninformed in the scriptures.
Or am I misreading your intention?