Hymn of the Red Herring

The talking heads at Faux News and the latter day False Prophets are in the midst of the new advent tradition in which they bleet the #1 chant on the Christmas Top 40. Like any bad song with a catchy (or politically expedient) hook, it's gotten stuck in the heads of so many folks that in the MSNBC poll on the topic the results are split with 49% of 32073 respondents (as of right now) voting that they do believe there is a war on Christmas. I sincerely believe that the people who think non-Republicans are de facto supporters of the Anti-Christ are the same folks who write send nastygrams to actors because they believe they are the TV/movie characters they portray. Even if the "real Christians" were right and those other people are doing the Satan Sashay, that "goddamned piece of paper" gives those dancing the heathen hustle as much right not to have Christianity forced on them in every public aspect life as it gives "real Christians" the right not to have to endure Satanic rituals in locations paid for with taxpayer money and run by government officials.

Pieces of property not owned by the government such as private homes, storefronts and shopping malls, as well as companies not owned by the government frequently may have sections visible to the public but are not part of the public domain. As such, the rules they follow are based solely on the whim of those who own/manage them (provided those rules are compliant with local, state and federal laws). Since the "real Christians" believe the previously mentioned old piece of parchment should only be used to support their goals while trampling on the rights of others, they feel that any private business (whether it's work includes interaction with the general public or has limited clientele) must cater to the demands of "real Christians" everywhere. These "real Christians" are downright offended by the denigration of their religion when anyone refers to an office/staff party held in December as anything but a Christmas Party (they must love the big corporations who push back their parties until January) and the use of phrases like "Happy Holidays" and "Seasons Greetings" on retail ads, store displays and cards mailed out by businesses this time each year. They know that New Year (a holiday that frequently generates people to provide others with well wishes) occurs in a completely different season from Christmas, so using the excuse of including good wishes for that (or any other holiday occuring within a month of Christmas) to explain use of those anti-Christian phrases is not acceptable. Afterall, if that's what they mean they could just as easily say "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year", could they not? Attempts at multi-culturalism for any reason are unacceptable, especially at Christmas time.

To avoid being accused of religious intolerance all public locales, especially retailers, must have Merry Christmas signs, Christmas sales and Christmas trees; To link the period of time after that satanic holiday of Halloween through completion of post-holiday sales with anything broader than Christmas is a sign of hostility and agression toward the beleaguered and under-represented religion of Christianity. To the social conservatives (who have a lock on patriotism), this is not only evidence of the war against Christmas, it's downright un-American.

Let's be honest, if there's any "war on Christmas" it's being waged by the mouthpieces of the Conservative movement. The fact that their focus is on what people say voluntarily, business communications and retail ads instead of keeping Christ in Christmas by supporting a return of the celebration to the religious holiday it is instead of the corporate mall holiday it has become.

The Repubevangelicals need to decide once and for all if Christmas is a holiday devoid of religious meaning/overtones or if it is a sacred Christian religious holiday. If it is the former, they cannot legitimately complain that their religion is being undermined by stores having holiday displays and sales or generic holiday greetings in lieu of using the word Christmas all over the place (frankly, they'd have more ground to stand on complaining about us referring to Independence Day by the date on which it occurs instead of the name of the holiday). If it is a distinctly religious holiday, the battle they're fighting is one that explicitly undermines its celebration as such.

Christmas is all about the celebration of the communion to celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth - something Christians who feel their religion is a source of connection with G-d and a way of life they embrace (as opposed to those who feel their religion is something they must disrespect by forcing it on others) consider a miracle and the first time the being they consider their Saviour revealed himself to the world. Cards, trees, decorations and retail merchandising have nothing to do with the meaning of Christmas. If you believe that any celebration of Jesus is a celebration of G-d giving his only son to show his love for the world, your celebration of any religious holiday related to Jesus should be a way to honor G-d's gift to you. Anyone who opts to distract from that meaning is not a much of a Christian. If I as a non-believer can understand that, shouldn't believers start questioning the motives of those perverting faith with politics?

Tags: the Mall holiday; something being imposed on the public; something else being imposed on the public; Politics; Faux News; O'Leilly; conservatism; media; MSNBC;false prophets;Falwell;Robertson;1st Amendment

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