Posted on 12/26/2006 2:15:21 PM PST by Charles Henrickson
IT JUST DOESN'T seem like Christmas this year — because there have been so few stories in the media about how the holiday is under siege by secular progressives. Some irony-deficient Chicago officials refused to allow advertising for "The Nativity Story" at the city's annual Christkindlmarket, an open-air re-creation of a European village. And Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's staff removed — then replaced — more than a dozen Christmas trees after a rabbi threatened to sue if a menorah wasn't included in the display. But, by and large, it's been a quiet season.
The Christmas wars were inescapable in 2005. . . .
The salvos between politically correct busybodies and pious protesters in 2004 were equally intense. . . .
But the war on Christmas didn't start in 2004 either. In fact, it's been ebbing and flowing for centuries wherever Christianity is practiced — and especially in the United States. . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
M.Z. Hemingway writes for getreligion.org.
I think you might know who "M.Z. Hemingway" is. "M.Z." recently got married!
Few Christmas lights this year. Haven't seen so few since the Christmas after WTC911. Is there a social trend going on we were not informed of?
Must be your neighborhood. In my neighborhood, it's the opposite this year - as if EVERYONE is channeling Clark Griswold.
Almost every house on my block is lit up this year, more than usual.
Maybe everybody feels bad because we fired our Governor and our State Senator, and probably killed the TransAlaska Natural Gas Pipeline for another decade.
I have observed that, too: The rise of the American-civil-religion Christmas during the '40s and '50s. Also from the 1940s: "Holiday Inn" and "The Bishop's Wife."
"The Bishop's Wife" (Cary Grant, David Niven, Loretta Young) is one of my favorite movies, and as the title suggests, it does have some religious themes. But it soft-pedals the Christ business, and David Niven's sermon at the end--the closing lines of the film--touts "tolerance":
"The stocking for the child born in a manger. It's his birthday we are celebrating, you know. Don't let us ever forget that. Let us ask ourselves what he would wish for most, and then let each of us put in his share--loving-kindness, warm hearts, and an out-stretched hand of tolerance--all the shining gifts that make peace on earth."
We've noticed the same thing around our town. Not only are most houses lit up - they are REALLY lit up! Lots and lots of lights! Also lots of "Merry Christmases" from store clerks and shoppers alike!
ON THE NET...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IunpHe1qG4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4x-gwBwGjQ&eurl=
JIHAD WATCH.org (AsiaNews): "INDONESIA: JIHADIST WAS PLANNING CHRISTMAS ATTACKS AGAINST CHURCHES" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: Jakarta - "Azahari bin Husin and his terrorist group were preparing a series of bomb attacks against churches in Malang to coincide with the Christmas festivities, this according to police sources." (November 11, 2005)
WorldNetDaily.com: "'NO CHRISTIAN SYMBOLS AT CHRISTMAS' Red Cross stores bar religious decor fearing it might be offensive" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Fearing they might offend someone, Red Cross stores in Britain have taken the Christian out of Christmas this year, banning any display of overtly religious decorations.") (November 18, 2003)
Ping.
Ah, well...it's all over now until next year.
What will the secular libs have to pick on now?
That is true here too. In fact my daughter and grandson and I were talking about that yesterday and last night. They both said it did not feel like Christmas.
"What will the secular libs have to pick on now?"
Conservatives, Conservative Christians, Conservative Jews...
No. Just higher electrical bills.
Sure, but many of my neighbors put up no outside lights at all, not even a string over the door. It seems to be regional from the responses so far. Also, the Christmas racks at the supermarket have been getting kind of light on lights. They have more lights in the Halloween racks.
Sad, isn't it?
I don't know what it is. It is a change. What kind of change is not obvious, perhaps a historical shift we can see only decades later.
I think the secularists realized they went too far.
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