{"id":4243,"date":"2005-11-28T13:40:16","date_gmt":"2005-11-28T17:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2005\/11\/28\/the-so-called-war-on-christma"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:54:22","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:54:22","slug":"the-so-called-war-on-christmas-and-chicken-little-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2005\/11\/28\/the-so-called-war-on-christmas-and-chicken-little-too\/","title":{"rendered":"the so-called “war on christmas” — and chicken little, too"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

There they go again: the most powerful religious group in America <\/font>is feeling persecuted, exiled and offended, because some local <\/font>governmental units are displaying “Holiday Trees” and some <\/font>retail stores are wishing customers a “Happy Holiday Season.” <\/font>See “<\/font>Boston ‘holiday tree’ stirs controversy<\/font><\/a>,” Reuters\/USNews<\/em> (Nov.25, 2005); The article “<\/font>Is there a ‘war on Christmas?<\/font><\/a>“, Austin American <\/em><\/font><\/font>Journal<\/em>, Nov. 27, 2005), begins: <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly believes the greeting <\/font><\/p>\n

“Happy Holidays” offends Christians celebrating the Christmas <\/font>season. <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"KCAn\"<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“It absolutely does. And I know that for a fact,” he declared on <\/font>his cable television program, “The O’Reilly Factor.” <\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This alleged secularist conspiracy has even left Prof. <\/font>Bainbridge unable<\/font><\/a> <\/font>to exercise his customary analytical faculties, as he wonders why a <\/font>city might have a “Holiday Tree” (some of his Commentors do a good job <\/font>of <\/font>helping Steve understand the issue). Prof. B. is even raising the issue <\/font>three weeks earlier than last year (see <\/font>good for Arnold<\/font><\/a>, Dec. 20, 2004) <\/font>At the time, f\/k\/a<\/em>‘s Editor <\/font>opined<\/font><\/a> (Dec. 21, 2004): <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

I won’t let all those who are irked by Generic <\/font>Holiday Greetings <\/font>[e.g., Ken <\/font>Lammers<\/font><\/a>, <\/font>Prof. B.<\/font><\/a>] keep me from wanting all Americans <\/font>to <\/font>celebrate this Season <\/font>without feeling religiously incorrect, com<\/font>promised <\/font>or left out. . . . . <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

This weblog has <\/font>never<\/font><\/a> been reluctant to poke fun at <\/font>extremes<\/font><\/a> of <\/font>politically <\/font>correct <\/font>language. But, attempts to make this Holiday Season — <\/font>clearly the most important <\/font>celebration for our nation — all-inclusive do not <\/font>seem silly to me, regardless of the <\/font>Constitutional dimensions of the debate. <\/font>Indeed, shopping sprees and Santa suits <\/font>have done far more to <\/font>“take <\/font>the <\/font>Christ out <\/font>of Christmas” than a slew of First Amendment <\/font>law suits could <\/font>ever do.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\"WarOnXmasN\" Instead of chilling out and wishing good will to all humans, evangelical <\/font>and conservative “Christians” have mounted a war of their own. Besides <\/font>Bill O’Reilly telling folks they should<\/em> be offended, Fox News anchor John <\/font>Gibson came out with the book <\/font>The War on Christmas<\/font><\/em><\/a> in October. And, <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Conservative Voice<\/em> <\/font><\/font>says<\/font><\/a> you should “Read, consider and act upon <\/font>it!” (Its columnist, Michael J. Gaynor, complains that the front windows <\/font>at Sax 5th Avenue “focused on concepts like unity, harmony and beauty. <\/font><\/p>\n

Nothing about Christmas.”) <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Rev. Jerry Falwell is threatening <\/font>lawsuits<\/font><\/a> over arboreal nomenclature, <\/font>and <\/font>The Liberty Counsel<\/font><\/a> has mounted the rather non-inclusive “<\/font>Friend or Foe<\/font><\/a>” <\/font>Christmas Campaign. In his <\/font>column<\/font><\/a> “Friend or Foe of Christmas,” Rick Holmes <\/font>says in reply (MetroWestDaily News<\/em>, Nov. 27, 2005): <\/strong><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

Pity the poor person at the cash register. A friendly greeting has <\/font><\/em>become a step onto the thin ice of political correctness: What <\/font><\/em>should she say at the end of every transaction: “Merry Christmas,” <\/font><\/em>or “Happy Holidays”? . . . .<\/font><\/em><\/p>\n

Falwell’s agenda isn’t about protecting the traditional place of religion <\/font><\/em>in American culture, it’s about expanding it and claiming it for themselves. <\/font><\/em><\/p>\n

They don’t want to educate people about the First Amendment, they <\/font><\/em>want to intimidate people into acknowledging Christianity as America’s <\/font><\/em>only legitimate religion. <\/font><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

They want that store cashier to say “Merry Christmas” or feel guilty <\/font><\/em>about not saying it. What’s next, mandatory prayer at the checkout? <\/font><\/em>
\n<\/font><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"KCAg\" Naturally, in any American War, there are <\/font>bumper stickers<\/font><\/a> <\/font>and <\/font>magnets — such as the “<\/font>Keep <\/font><\/a>Christmas Alive<\/font><\/a>” Campaign. Their <\/font>proganda<\/font><\/a> <\/font>machine is busy with broadsides like <\/font>Why all the Christophobia at Christmas?<\/font><\/a> <\/font>I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind. Here are a few not-so-random <\/font><\/p>\n

thoughts: <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\"tiny Despite the <\/font>protestation<\/font><\/a> of Phillip D. Powell, a member of the Harvard-<\/font>Radcliffe Christian Fellowship — who says, “This is the Christmas season, <\/font>and Dec. 25 is Christmas, not some general feel-good day of celebration\u201d — <\/font>there actually is a very lengthy holiday season<\/em> in the United States. It <\/font>starts at least as early as Thanksgiving and continues at least through <\/font>New Year’s Day, with related “shopping seasons” extended on either <\/font>end of the period. (e.g.<\/em>, Dong Zhi, Kwanza, Hanukkah, and Diwali) Some <\/font>of these feasts are clearly non-religious, many are surely non-Christian, <\/font>and some of the Christian ones are not<\/em> Christmas. Just why in the name <\/font>of America and God should a municipality, much less a department store, <\/font>have to lump them all together <\/font>under the rubric of “Christmas”?<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"WarOnXmas\" nope<\/em><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\"tiny Although Mr. Gaynor at the Conservative Voice <\/font>believes<\/font><\/a> it’s relevant that <\/font>“America\u2019s greatest chief justice, John Marshall, proclaimed in 1833: ‘The <\/font>American population is entirely Christian, and with us Christianity and Religion <\/font>are identified,” I believe it is more relevant that there are now many non-Christians, <\/font>ex-<\/font>Christians and secularists in 2005 America. The government is not required <\/font>to do everything it can, short of breaking the First Amendment, on behalf of Christ<\/font>ianity.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"tiny Those who know the Bible better than I will have to tell me why the <\/font>Jesus who “entered into the temple of God, and drove out all of those who <\/font>sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers’ tables <\/font>and the seats of those who sold the doves,” and who protected the Gentile <\/font>pilgrims (<\/font>Matthew 21-12<\/font><\/a>), would want “His” people wasting their time <\/font>on the naming of decorations and the wording of good wishes, rather than <\/font>working to reverse the universal connection in America of His birth with the <\/font>most crass commercialism and greed. (see, e.g<\/em>., CBS3 [Philadelphia.], <\/font>“<\/font>Local Shoppers Back At It<\/font><\/a>,” Nov. 26, 2005; Bloomberg, “Weekend Sales <\/font>Jump 22% to $27.8 Billion<\/a>,” Nov. 27, 2005)<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"JesusMoney\" orig<\/font><\/em><\/a>.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\"tiny Likewise, the Right and the self-proclaimed Saved correctly <\/font>fault the Left (for example, feminists) for too-often looking<\/em> for reasons <\/font>to be <\/font>offended. Why, then, do the same thing and turn the season of <\/font>Good Will Toward All into a nasty part of the culture wars? If you <\/font>want to pre-empt a clerk saying “Happy Holidays,” why not wear a <\/font>“Merry Christmas” button on your lapel rather than a “you talkin’ to <\/font>me?!” chip on your shoulder?<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"ChickenLittle2005\" Finally, if the religious Right wants to aim its paranoia at a more appropriate <\/font>target, I suggest <\/font>Chicken Little<\/em><\/font><\/a>. Just why is Hollywood trying to turn an <\/font>obviously <\/font>false prophet<\/font><\/a> into a hero? And, why are they using such a <\/font>stinky<\/font><\/a> <\/font>flick? As if we’re going to believe there are celestial beings with super-human <\/font>powers that would come to earth and take dominion over mankind. <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n

lips and tongues<\/font><\/p>\n

traditional Christmas<\/font><\/p>\n

papercuts<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

tsunami on tv — \"ChickenLittleN\"<\/font><\/p>\n

our children awash<\/font><\/p>\n

in christmas gifts<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

dagosan<\/strong><\/font><\/a><\/font><\/p>\n

from <\/font>second thoughts<\/strong><\/font><\/em><\/a> (2005)<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There they go again: the most powerful religious group in America is feeling persecuted, exiled and offended, because some local governmental units are displaying “Holiday Trees” and some retail stores are wishing customers a “Happy Holiday Season.” See “Boston ‘holiday tree’ stirs controversy,” Reuters\/USNews (Nov.25, 2005); The article “Is there a ‘war on Christmas?“, Austin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2926],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pre-06-2006"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-16r","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4243"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12898,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4243\/revisions\/12898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}