Free Republic

CHRISTMAS IN JAPAN can be a little lonely and isolated for the Westerner here. What with the distance from “home” and cultural differences. Little things, here and there. Missing some of the usual things from back home, especially for people like one particular 'American in Tokyo'. This year 2009 is again no different. However, in many respects I must say there is nevertheless one little thing that is so refreshing about being stuck in Japan during Christmas—after a few years—and for the occasions one cannot make it back "home". It is almost like the clock has been refreshingly and...

President Barack Obama ... ... is slated to deliver a prime-time address on Tuesday night in which he'll lay out his plans for the American war in Afghanistan. The address before the United States Military Academy at West Point on Tuesday night will not only be used to announce the immediate order to deploy roughly 30,000 more troops, but the administration will also use the occasion to convey how it intends to turn the fight over to the Kabul government, the New York Times reported. But the administration may also face an unforeseen enemy as it lays out its long-awaited...

Since the ACLU doesn't like the word "Christmas", let's send a Christmas Card to them in New York. Make sure the card is all about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ! Address: ACLU 125 Broad Street 18th Floor New York, NY 10004 Merry Christmas!

Starry eyed children around the world are writing letters to the jolly man at the North Pole, but this holiday season they'll not likely to get a response from Santa or his helpers. The U.S. Postal Service is dropping a popular effort begun in 1954 in the small town of North Pole, in Alaska's interior, where volunteers tackle up to 150,000 letters addressed to Santa. Postal Service officials cite privacy concerns loomed last winter when a postal worker in Maryland recognized a volunteer in the agency's Operation Santa program as a registered sex offender. The postal worker interceded before the...

The Episcopal Church is joining the Interfaith Immigration Coalition postcard campaign, aimed at sending a holiday message to members of the U.S. Congress. The message: "Help keep immigrant families together by supporting comprehensive immigration reform now." An action alert from the Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN) said its goal is to collect 10,000 signed postcards "and send a strong message to Congress that people of faith want to see action on comprehensive immigration reform." "Your participation in the Holiday Postcard campaign will help us remind Members of Congress that our broken immigration system is hurting immigrant families, and needs to...

The economy is putting a squeeze on the nation's biggest arts complex. The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is canceling its holiday tree lighting ceremony in December. The decorated tree erected in the center's main plaza has become an annual tradition, with a live televised ceremony drawing both New Yorkers and tourists. Lincoln Center blames the cancellation on what it calls "the challenging economic climate" -- and also construction at the entrance to the plaza. “[Construction] will be completed by next year, but it is in no shape to hold the group that the tree attracts," Kate Merlino, a...

Someone tell me again about how the Religion of Peace is tolerant of other religions. Christians who went to observe their Christmas at Nazareth, the birthplace of Jesus, were greeting with a giant banner announcing that Allah has no son right in front of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. Just wait to see what will happen if the gain control of all of the west bank holy sites. Read the full story below:

The right-wing crusade against the liberal "war on Christmas" is great for rallying the troops. Too bad the war doesn't exist. In 1959, the recently formed John Birch Society issued an urgent alert: Christmas was under attack. In a JBS pamphlet titled "There Goes Christmas?!" a writer named Hubert Kregeloh warned, "One of the techniques now being applied by the Reds to weaken the pillar of religion in our country is the drive to take Christ out of Christmas -- to denude the event of its religious meaning." The central front in this perfidious assault was American department stores, where...

’Tis the season … to be green. No, not even the traditions of Christmas are immune to the efforts of global warming activism. No, it’s not Al Gore’s, “How Greenhouse Gases Stole Christmas,” but a children’s story is pushing a similar green agenda. The recently published book by Anne Margaret Lewis called “Santa Goes Green” is about a boy who writes Santa and asks him to help raise awareness about global warming so that his adopted polar bear won’t lose its home. “You see, it’s like this Santa,” the book reads. “I’ve adopted a polar bear named Leopold. He is...

Lots of people love this movie of course. But I’m convinced it’s for the wrong reasons. Because to me “It’s a Wonderful Life” is anything but a cheery holiday tale. Sitting in that dark public high school classroom, I shuddered as the projector whirred and George Bailey’s life unspooled.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The odds of a "white Christmas" in temperate parts of the northern hemisphere have diminished in the last century due to climate change and will likely decline further by 2100, climate and meteorology experts said. Even though heavy snow this year will guarantee a white Christmas in many parts of Asia, Europe and North America, an 0.7-degree Celsius (1.3 Fahrenheit) rise in world temperatures since 1900 and projected bigger rises by 2100 suggest an inexorable trend. "The probability of snow on the ground at Christmas is already lower than it was even 50 years ago but it...

It is the discovery of three almost invisible drawings on the back of Leonardo da Vinci's Virgin and Child With Saint Anne in the Louvre museum in Paris that has the French art world screaming "Sacre bleu!" Reminiscent of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, the mysterious sketches were found by experts looking into restoring the sixteenth-century masterpiece. They were detected when a curator noticed that some of the gray marks behind Virgin and Child With Saint Anne resembled a horse's head. An infrared photo confirmed his suspicion and revealed two other sketches: a human skull and the infant Jesus with...

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – On the day Muslims around the world began to celebrate Eid al-Adha, Fatuma Mohamed was at the Mall of America (MOA), far away from where she would normally say her prayers. But she and other Muslims needed to take time from the activities of the mall and find a quiet area to pray as Muslims do during the festival that commemorates Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his only son for God. “I said my prayer right at that corner,” Mohamed said, pointing to the spot. Another Muslim, Amran Ali, did the same. “I had to say my prayer...

A primary school teacher who left a class of 25 pupils in tears after she told told them Santa Claus did not exist has been fired.. When excited youngsters became rowdy as they talked about Santa, the supply teacher blurted out: 'It's your parents who leave out presents on Christmas Day.' The class of seven-year-olds at Blackshaw Lane Primary School, Royton, near Oldham, Greater Manchester burst into tears and told their parents when they arrived home. Mothers and fathers then complained about the incident and were sent a letter by the school saying the substitute teacher, who only worked at...

Because "public life" now entails virtually every part of our lives, erasing references to God entirely from public life means virtually eliminating them from America. Imagine, if you will, a gala birthday party given in your honor. The guests will sing, dance, give presents, eat, drink, and have the merriest of times. The hitch: your name will not be mentioned, the gifts will not be for you, the celebrants won't be thinking about you, and everyone would sort of prefer that you not come. That's all that will be left of Christmas if various groups have their way. All across...

It may not be too late to send the presents back, as astronomers have calculated that Christmas should not be celebrated on December 25 - but on June 17 instead. Researchers tracked the appearance of the 'Christmas star', which the Bible states three wise men followed to find Jesus. Australian stargazer Dave Reneke used complex computer software to chart the exact positions of all celestial bodies and map the night sky as it would have appeared over the Holy Land more than 2,000 years ago. He discovered that a bright star really did appear over Bethlehem 2,000 years ago -...

Astronomers have calculated that Christmas should be in June, by charting the appearance of the 'Christmas star' which the Bible says led the three Wise Men to Jesus. They found that a bright star which appeared over Bethlehem 2,000 years ago pinpointed the date of Christ's birth as June 17 rather than December 25. The researchers claim the 'Christmas star' was most likely a magnificent conjunction of the planets Venus and Jupiter, which were so close together they would have shone unusually brightly as a single "beacon of light" which appeared suddenly. If the team is correct, it would mean...

Just in time for the Christmas season, Washington State Gov. Christine Gregoire has insulted Christians all over the world. Inside the state Capitol building in Olympia there is a traditional holiday display featuring a tree and the Nativity scene; perfectly appropriate since the federal and state Christmas holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. But this year Gregoire decided to add another item to the display. Standing alongside the baby Jesus is a giant placard designed by atheists that reads: "There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion...

Here is a sample of how diversity is being celebrated this December: · Elementary school students in Plainfield, Illinois are decorating a “Holiday” tree that represents 18 countries. · A “Holiday Revelry” will be performed at the Framingham Civic League in Massachusetts; it is a “multicultural” event that includes “PAC Sword Dancers” and “traditional” Christmas songs such as “Pat-A-Pan.” · “Winter Traditions” will be celebrated at the Fort Collins Museum in Colorado. They include “Celebrations of Light” that highlight “traditions, cultures and celebrations from across the world.” · At a high school in Ocean City, Maryland, the annual “Winter Concert”...

Dan Barker of the Freedom from Religion Foundation on December 1, 2008's Fox & Friends stated that the nativity scene represented 'hate speech' and 'a direct attack on good human values.'