Posted on 04/06/2010 4:38:31 AM PDT by Kaslin
When a town in Iowa seeks to rename Good Friday "Spring Holiday," you know America has problems.
Those of us who affirm the Judeo-Christian values that have constituted the basis of America's values since before the founding of the United States expect such things on the two coasts. The West Coast and the East Coast (at least down to Virginia) have largely abandoned the God-based morality of the Declaration of Independence and all the Founders.
Yes, all the Founders. Even the so-called deists, while not theologically Christian, were ethical monotheists, i.e., strong affirmers of ethics rooted in the will of the Creator. As Steven Waldman, no conservative, writes in "Founding Faith," a book that has been praised by Left and Right, "(SET ITAL) Each (END ITAL) felt religion was extremely important, at a minimum to encourage moral behavior and make the land safe for republican government" (italics added).
We have, therefore, looked to the American "heartland" to keep the religious basis of American civilization alive. That is why, Iowa's history of "progressivism" notwithstanding, it was disconcerting to learn last week that the city of Davenport had announced it would rename Good Friday "Spring Holiday."
As reported by ABC News:
"Taking a recommendation by the Davenport Civil Rights Commission to change the holiday's name to something more ecumenical, City Administrator Craig Malin sent a memo to municipal employees announcing Good Friday would officially be known as 'Spring Holiday.'
"The Civil Rights Commission said it recommended changing the name to better reflect the city's diversity and maintain a separation of church and state when it came to official municipal holidays."
Given the importance of Good Friday to Christians, when news of the recommendation became public, there was a national as well as local outcry, and the recommendation was rescinded.
In explaining the recommendation, Tim Hart, the civil rights commission's chairman, said, "We merely made a recommendation that the name be changed to something other than Good Friday. Our Constitution calls for separation of church and state. Davenport touts itself as a diverse city and given all the different types of religious and ethnic backgrounds we represent, we suggested the change."
That the Davenport City Council did not endorse the commission's recommendation is important to note, but not significant. What is significant is that the civil rights commission and the city administrator of an American city -- a heartland city -- would recommend that Good Friday be replaced by the meaningless "Spring Holiday."
It is significant for these reasons:
1. There really is a war against Christianity.
Leftism functions as a secular religion, and its adherents understand that the major obstacle to the dominance of Leftist policies and values is traditional religion, specifically Christianity. With the demise of Christianity in Western Europe, Leftist ideas and values came to dominate that continent. America, the most religious industrialized democracy, remains the great exception.
2. Why not abolish Christmas?
If a religiously diverse population and the separation of church and state demand abolishing government recognition of Good Friday, why not treat Christmas similarly and rename it "Winter Holiday"? This was asked of Mr. Hart, the civil rights commission chairman. His response, in the words of ABC, shows the level of thought that is characteristic of the Politically Correct: "The commission, he said, discussed changing Christmas, but decided enough other religions celebrate Christmas too. Hart, however, could not name one. "
3. Civil rights organizations are not about civil rights.
The ACLU and other left-wing organizations that have noble sounding civil liberties and civil rights names have a problem similar to the one the March of Dimes had once polio was conquered: What to do now? Civil liberties and civil rights are extraordinarily well protected in America. If the ACLU and the innumerable civil rights commissions ceased to exist, and a few smaller and politically neutral groups took their place, civil liberties in America would benefit. As is obvious from the Davenport example, these groups do not really function as civil rights or civil liberties organizations. They are organizations that promote left-wing agendas. And no Leftist agenda is greater than minimizing the influence of Judeo-Christian religions, specifically Christianity, on American life.
4. Good Friday as an American holiday reminds Americans that this is a religious society.
Leftism opposes America's three great values -- what I call the American Trinity (see, for example, my video on the American Trinity at prageruniversity.com) -- "E Pluribus Unum," "Liberty" and "In God We Trust." The Left uses diversity and multiculturalism to undermine E Pluribus Unum ("From Many, One"). It substitutes equality (of result) for liberty, and the powerful state for the powerful free individual. And it seeks, perhaps above all, to replace "In God We Trust" with a secular society and secular values. If it had a motto, it might be "In Science (or Secularism) We Trust." The elimination of Good Friday as an American holiday is just one more such battle in this war.
5. Non-Christians offended by Good Friday as an American holiday are narcissists.
The Left tells us that non-Christians are offended by the government celebrating Good Friday. As a Jew, permit me to say that any non-Christian offended by Good Friday or Christmas gives new meaning to the word "narcissist." To seek to erase the name Good Friday is an exercise in self-centeredness and ingratitude that is jaw-dropping. We non-Christian Americans live in the freest society in human history; it was produced by people nearly every one of who celebrated Good Friday, and we have the gall to want to rename it?
6. PC (Political Correctness) should be renamed OTL (Offends the Left).
Most Americans will characterize the Davenport attempt to rename Good Friday "Spring Holiday" as Political Correctness. That it is. But the term itself is Politically Correct. Like everything PC, the term itself hides its true meaning, which is Leftism. Political Correctness is invariably produced by the Left. The term, therefore, should not be PC; it should be OTL, "Offends the Left." It is very unfortunate for America that it isn't. Americans would have much greater clarity as to the Second Civil War now taking place -- from San Francisco to Boston to, yes, Davenport, Iowa.
Davenport (and the Quad cities) was where all the folks went for factory jobs when the coal mines closed in Iowa.
I remember how shocked I was when Ted Kennedy and nephew, Dr. Smith went out drinking and partying in Palm Beach on Good Friday, ending the evening with a rape charge against Smith. I should have seen it coming.
In my youth, it was not uncommon for towns ... and not just heavily Catholic towns ... to be completely shut down on Good Friday and Holy Saturday. That is gone, and we are not the better for it.
We had a huge Farmall plant in Rock Island, IL (one of the Quad Cities) that closed back in the 80’s because the unions here squeezed them to death. Hundreds of workers ended up unemployed from that fiasco.
The union mentality here is this - keep raising union wages and benefits with no regard for the business climate or whether or not the company can actually afford it. If the workers end up losing their jobs, tough sh*t - we stood up to management on your behalf. Yay!
That’s why we lost Farmall and a number of other union-run plants over the years, including a recent one that closed up 6 months ago becuase the union workers there refused to take a pay cut. Another 60-70 people now unemployed. I wonder if they’re satisfied with their decision.
Then, Christians and conservatives need to make them more scared of the fallout of this sort of discrimination.
Then, Christians and conservatives need to make them more scared of the fallout of this sort of discrimination.
Although Iowa socially conservative state, there are considerable number of labor union types (like who used to work on railroads) and farmers receiving government subsidies who vote for Democrats. As a result, Democrats often get elected and currently are in complete control of the state government. And, Democrats wherever they are promote an anti-Christian, pro-abortion, pro-homosexual agenda.
I had remarked to my kids when he gave that keynote speech at the DNC in 2004, "That's a dangerous man, kids" ... and then the Iowa caucus ... I KNEW we were in trouble.
Thanks for the ping. It is necessary for Christians to express their displeasure at things like this.
It wasn’t Iowa voters that instituted same-sex marriage, it was unelected judges.
actually, if everyone was granted a personal holiday to take anytime during the year instead of Christmas (Christian) and Good Friday (Christian) we would soon see that almost ALL would take Christmas on Christmas and Good Friday on Good Friday....
And so did Massey Ferguson, White Tractor, Maytag and a host of other good manufacturers in the Midwest.
I wish I could remember the details... Years ago, when this BS was starting up, management tried to treat Christmas and Easter differently from Thanksgiving. Their reasoning? Thanksgiving wasn’t a “holiday/holy day” per se. I had to remind them that we’re thanking GOD that day for all we were blessed with.
I still haven’t forgotten the look on their faces. Was so tempted to ask them, “Who were you thanking? The turkey?”
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