December 2006: An update on the War on Christmas
By Gene Lalor, Ph.D
Posted On December 22, 2006

The following is an article reprinted from Citizen Journal’s Christmas edition, 2005. A few weeks ago, it seemed that a revision and update were required since the assault on Christmas of recent years had abated. Even corporate Wal-Mart, waking up and smelling the sweet scent of money, had relented and was allowing its employees to wish folks a “Merry Christmas” rather than restricting them to “Happy Holidays.” They may also say, “Happy Hanukkah,” “Happy Kwanzaa,” maybe even “Happy Mahashivaratri.” Alas, it seems I was presumptuous. Wal-Mart more recently announced a record decline in profits so next year I guess we can expect a reversion of policy to “Happy Holidays.”

At least Wal-Mart gave it a shot. IKEA doesn’t even deign to sell Nativity scenes. Best-Buy is adhering to its all inclusive “Happy Holidays,” resulting in at least two complaints and at least one shredded Best-Buy credit card. A Long Island food chain, Waldbaums, owned by A&P, had a special “Happy Chanukah!” sale the week before that festival; the week before Christmas it has a “Happy Holidays” sale.

“Christmas” trees are ubiquitous but almost never referred to as such. The snowflake reigns supreme over all-but-non-existent crèches.

Now they are even attacking the new movie, The Nativity Story!

Now (again) they’re stealing Nativity figures in such places as Naugatuck, Connecticut.

Now they erect a “manger scene” at a “Festival of Lights” in St. Albans, West Virginia, devoid of any “offensive” figures, including the Christ Child!

Now they protest a star in a privately-owned store in Bradenton, Florida, because it’s an “unconstitutional” religious symbol!

On Monday, December 12th came the debacle at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport. A rabbi threatened a lawsuit because there was no menorah displayed but, continuing a ten-year tradition, there was a host of Christmas trees. The airport retaliated, removed all the trees, the rabbi relented under pressure and withdrew his threat, and only then did the airport return the trees. Then the United States Olympic great, Sasha Cohen, was “stunned” to learn Christmas carolers in Riverside, California, were ordered to cease and desist singing during her performance because Sasha is half-Jewish!

Anyone else get the feeling the inmates are taking control of the asylum?

The Christian Defense Coalition is but one of many organizations fighting back, and with good reason. The secularist, treacherous kooks are back in fine fettle.

A.D. (Anno Domini-the year of Our Lord) 2006, and still the more things change, the more we realize that those changes are illusory. Regardless, we sadly re-print the following, hoping that next year a true revision, or a retraction, will be needed.

Somehow, we doubt that will be necessary.

***

Well, the weather outside is frightful....That’s not really true in the New York City area right now, although commuters would probably prefer the transit strike to have happened in June, rather than December, but the weather mavens say it will be frightful soon enough.

Other things this Christmas season are sort of frightful though, notably, the relentless campaign by some folk to virtually abolish this most holy season and to replace it with a secular “holiday” which extols Grinch-y greed and, as Wordsworth wrote many years ago, “getting and spending.” Without trying to antagonize the left wing of this country -- since it is the season of good will -- I really don’t grasp their motives in trying to secularize Christmas. Ok, there are many un-Christian things I could say about America’s “liberals,” but I’ll forego them, or most of them.

The point is, What’s the harm of Christmas? We’re told the nation is eighty-four percent Christian and that some ninety-four percent, whatever their religion, or lack thereof, celebrate Christmas. Many actually go to church! And, it’s not only the season of good will but it’s a season when people at least try to mend familial fences, when people, more than they do usually, sincerely hope and wish for peace on earth and good tidings to everyone, when people even tend to smile more.

Just what’s so bad about all that?

I hate to say it, but I believe those who oppose Christmas–and many do oppose it, despite their protestations to the contrary–seem to have a certain negative mind-set, unfortunately a characteristic of the “liberal” psyche. New York area cases in point include a recent flap over a Catholic priest actually daring to use the words “Jesus Christ” at a Christmas tree lighting and another involving a Nativity scene, or manger, and a menorah. For those from Jupiter, the former is a representation of the scene of Christ’s birth celebrating Christmas and the latter a candlelabrum representing a miracle in the Jewish year 3632 and celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. In the manger vs. menorah flap, in Huntington, Long Island, one Michael Pashkin -- who refused to divulge his religion to Newsday reporters -- objected to the holiday display of both religious symbols (on public property but donated by private parties) on the tenuous and disputable grounds of an alleged Constitutional mandate for a “separation of church and state,” which phrase is never even used in the Constitution. Mr. Pashkin filed suit to have both removed, then relented under local pressure, then reinstituted the suit, objecting now that the manger scene was larger than the menorah and demanding that a spotlight be trained on the menorah because it wasn’t as big. All this despite the fact that Hanukkah didn’t even begin until after Christmas. The other Long Island fuss occurred in Manhasset when a local politico stepped forward during a Christmas tree lighting and interrupted and corrected the priest who had merely mentioned Christ to say that the occasion was not "in no way a religious ceremony" and that the priest's conduct was "inappropriate." He eventually apologized for his rudeness.

Add to these forays into silliness -- or is it into venom? -- reports of Santa and Rudolph effigies hung dripping blood and one has to wonder if some people are having acid-trip flashbacks from their drug indiscretions in the Sixties.

If all this seems trivial and bewildering, or venomous and small-minded, I suggest it’s all of the above and, if not as frightful as war and pestilence, it’s almost as malignant, harmful, and destructive. John Gibson’s new best-seller, The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse than You Thought, details what’s happening in the nation. It’s an excellent read so I’ll just stick to opinion. I repeat, What’s so bad about good will and good tidings? Or about mangers and about Santas? Or about Salvation Army bell-ringers (banned by many commercial outlets, such as Target stores, which make billions on Christmas) collecting money for the poor and hurting? Or about displaying Christmas greetings in Wal-Mart? Or about wishing customers a “Merry Christmas,” rather than an all-but-meaningless, generic, “Happy Holidays?”

I was food shopping recently and as I picked up my lox and half- pound of yellow American cheese the deli guy wished me a happy holiday. In turn, I replied, “ Merry Christmas!” He laughed, said I must have seen the cross on his back, and returned the greeting. There was no cross on his back, or anywhere else on him that I could see, but it was gratifying to see the big grin on the deli man’s face. As I said, people even smile more at Christmas.

So Merry Christmas to all, from Citizen Journal. And if that offends any readers, then Humbug!

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