Christian Cultural Imperialism and The Phony War Against Christmas

A guest blogger post on The Bilerico Project takes up a subject that this blog has touched on frequently - the special privileges given to Christians and Christianity even though the U. S. Constitution clearly states that there shall be no established religion. No satisfied with the manner in which they steam roll over the rights of non-Christians be they Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim or some other faith, on a virtually daily basis, the uber-Christians have fabricated the totally non-existent "war on Christmas." Translated, this disingenuous construct means that if Christianists cannot force other citizens to cow tow to Christian beliefs/holidays, then the Christians are alleged to be under attack. It is total bullshit, but that means nothing to the uber-Christianists who can reliably be assumed to be lying if their lips are moving. The author of the Bilerico post is Warren J. Blumenfeld, an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Iowa State University, and author of the book, "Investigating Christian Privilege and Religious Oppression in the United States." Here are so post highlights:
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While many holidays, both religious and secular, come around this time, "Happy Holidays" is in all actuality coded language for "Merry Christmas" and "Happy (Christian) New Year." In fact, most non-Christian major holidays do not fall in December.
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In fact, what we are experiencing is a form of Christian cultural imperialism (hegemony): a promotion of the larger Christian culture, celebrations, values, beliefs.
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Examples of Christian cultural imperialism during the so-called "Holiday Season" are many: the constant and prolonged promotion of music, especially Christmas, by radio stations, and Christmas specials on TV throughout November and December each year; Christmas decorations (often hung at taxpayer expense) in the public square in cities and towns throughout the United States; the highly visible and widespread availability of Christian holiday decorations, greeting cards, food, and other items during Christian holiday seasons, the President and First Lady lighting the "National Christmas Tree" on the Ellipse behind the White House, and many other examples too numerous to list.
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Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas has organized a movement to call the season what it really is, the "Christmas Season," and he asserts that businesses who display "Happy Holidays" greetings are simply stooping to "political correctness." Jeffress has created his "Grinch List" through his website to expose businesses, who he contends are taking Christ out of Christmas.
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Simply stated, the pastor is positioning Christians as the real "victims" in the current "Happy Holidays" epoch. In his effort to purge "Happy Holidays" from modern parlance, Jeffress is attempting not only to maintain, but also to fortify Christian cultural imperialism,
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My argument, however, focuses upon a critique of the systemic (and not necessarily individualistic) structures that promote Christian privilege and hegemony within the United States (and I would argue, many other Western countries) in the expression of "Happy Holidays" in the context of the month of December, when most cultures' major holidays do not fall in the month of December on the Gregorian calendar. I argue that the systemic structures themselves promote Christian imperialism (hegemony), in which individuals are often unwilling and even unknowing conspirators.
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While the intent may certainly be well meaning and heartfelt, the impact may have the opposite effect.

Washington Post Story Slams Cuccinelli

Yet another story in the Washington Post looks at Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli's insane self-declared war against knowledge and academic freedom on Virginia's college and university campuses. Kookinelli's approach clearly is one of trying to silence anyone whose research and/or views do not support Cooch's own warped beliefs. One can only hope that (1) the academics will fight back and (2) this ongoing tempest will wake up the business community as to the poisonous results of having an unabashed religious fanatic in the office of Attorney General. Meanwhile, whispers continue that Kookinelli is a self-loathing closet case who has dipped into the gay well at least once much like George "Rentboy" Rekers. In my experience, the more hysterically anti-gay one is, the more likely they are cut out of the George Rekers/Ted Haggaed cloth. Obviously, I sincerely hope that Kookinelli self-destructs sooner as opposed to later. Here are some story highlights:
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[T]here is peril, too, for Cuccinelli in his battle with public colleges. In a state that prides itself on a university system founded by Thomas Jefferson, colleges have long enjoyed bipartisan support, and a broad fight with academia could alienate business leaders whose backing will be crucial if Cuccinelli makes any future run for office.
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[M]any faculty members and students are convinced Cuccinelli is cherry-picking issues that enable him to challenge liberal academia. That theme has been adopted by the state's Democratic Party, which released a statement calling on Cuccinelli to keep his "hands off our universities."
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"It's quite easy to pick on us, because everyone he wants to pander to already thinks we're overpaid Marxists," said David Burdige, an oceanographer at Old Dominion University and a member of the school's Faculty Senate. "If you're trying to appeal to a particular group of people, then picking on the university as being bastions of left-wing thinking and depravity, it's sort of like shooting bears at a garbage dump. You're guaranteed to score points."
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After he sent letters to the presidents and boards of every college in March instructing them to change policies that barred discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, students across Virginia launched a slew of anti-Cuccinelli Facebook groups. Students at Richmond's Virginia Commonwealth University organized a protest that culminated in a march from the campus to the state Capitol.
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This past week, more than 675 Virginia professors also signed a letter asking that Cuccinelli drop his demand for documents related to the work of former U-Va. climate scientist Michael Mann, calling it "burdensome and entirely unwarranted." The university's Board of Visitors, which usually receives legal counsel from an on-campus representative of the attorney general's office, has now hired an outside firm to consider whether to fight Cuccinelli in court over the issue.

Cuccinelli to Address Extreme Wingnut Gathering

If there were any remaining doubt as to the extreme nature of Ken "Cooch" Cuccinelli's insane far right agenda, it should be eliminated by Cuccinelli's attendance at and address to the coven of loons and religious extremists who will be gathering on April 15, 2010 at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. The gathering, titled "The Awakening 2010" includes a veritable who's who of the Christian Right, the majority of whom are vitriolic gay haters and seriously challenged on issues of truth and veracity. That Cuccinelli will be amongst this group as a headlined speaker speaks volumes and none of it is good for those who believe in constitutional government and religious freedom and civil rights for all citizens. One can only presume that next we will see Cooch at Klan gatherings and white supremacist conventions. It's more than just a little frightening. Here are some highlights from Right Wing Watch:
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Today, Liberty Counsel put out a release confirming that "Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is scheduled to speak at 'The Awakening 2010' on Thursday evening, April 15 at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA."
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Cuccinelli will be joining a who's who of Religious Right leaders, including Andrea Lafferty, Wendy Wright, Richard Land, Tony Perkins, Kelly Shackelford, Ken Blackwell, Mat Staver, Rick Scarborough, Harry Jackson, Lou Engle, and even Cindy Jacobs.
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To give an idea of just how whacked out some of these folks are, Jacobs has in the past given speeches about how she had an amazing visitation with God during which he showed her Seraphim and set her bedroom on fire, before she set about about casting out demons, lifting curses, and conducting faith healings of everything from AIDS to Hepatitis C to Glaucoma and even Cancer.
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And these are the folks that Cuccinelli surrounds himself with. I'd love to see copies of his daily schedules and telephone logs so that Virginia taxpayers could see how much time I suspect he is spending on ultra-far right lunacy rather than important state business. I warned people just how unhinged Cuccinelli would be if elected and he is not proving me wrong. And Bob McDonnell thinks he and Cooch will convince progressive businesses and entreprenuers to move to Virginia? I think not.

The Christian Taliban

While much attention has been given to the Chimperator's disastrous foreign policies, particularly the Iraq War that was sold to the American people based on deliberate, calculated lies, too little attention gets focus on the insidious damage that the Bush/Cheney regime has had domestically, especially in the area of replacing true experts with religious nut cases - those who I and others call the "Christian Taliban" - who care nothing for true science or medical knowledge. It is ironic that the USA took military action in Afghanistan to stop Islamic fundamentalist yet at the same time equally fanatical religious kooks were infiltrating the U.S. government. Israel News has a great article that itemizes the damage Bush/Cheney and their Christianist allies have done domestically. It is a shame that the U.S. mainstream media lacks the courage to expose what this corrupt, anti-knowledge regime has done to the country. I urge readers to read the entire article - it is a strong indictment against allowing one extreme religious view and politics to merge. Here are some story highlights:

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During the Taliban rule of Afghanistan the world got a good look at what happens when religious zealots gain control of a government. Television images of women being beaten, forced to wear burkas, and banned from schools and the workplace helped build strong public support for the President's decision to invade Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11. But even as President George W. Bush denounced the brutal Islamic fundamentalist regime in Kabul, he was quietly laying the foundations for his own fundamentalist regime at home. For the first time far right Christian fundamentalists had one of their own in the White House and the opportunity to begin rolling back decades of health and family planning programs they saw as un-Christian, if not downright sinful.

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Since 2001 dozens of far-right Christian fundamentalists have been quietly installed in key positions within the Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal Drug Administration and on commissions and advisory committees where they have made serious progress. Three years later this administration has established one of the most rigid sexual health agendas in the Western world.

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Information became a prime target of the Christian Taliban. President Bush says he respects "good science," when making public policy. But, the crux of the matter apparently hinges on the definition of "good," especially when it comes to family-planning issues. When good science clashes with Biblical fundamentalist beliefs in this administration, science loses every time.

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Early in 2001 Bush's Christian Taliban began scrubbing federal information sources of offending materials. The censorship campaign prompted Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) to send a letter to o HHS Secretary Thompson demanding an explanation for the removal of information from the HHS Web site of scientific findings by the National Cancer Institute that, contrary to anti-choice propaganda, abortions do not increase the risk of breast cancer. Thompson never responded but the "cleansing" continued.

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Good science was disappearing from government publications and Web sites at such a pace that the Union of Concerned Scientists issued a report in early 2004 documenting and condemning the Bush administration. So, even as the Bush administration denounced and battled Islamic religious zealotry abroad it was and is nurturing a fundamentalist Christian version here at home, much to the delight of radical right-wing Christians.

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What is remarkable is that this was accomplished without significant public outcry. The reason is that America's Christian Taliban are more public relations savvy than their Islamic counterparts. No American women are being forced to cover up, beaten for appearing in public wearing make up, or barred from the workplace. The changes being made are more subtle and less visibly shocking. They are incremental, technical, administrative -- but far-reaching.

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We need to reconnect with a fundamental ingredient of America's strength: the separation of church and state. That wall of separation has for over two centuries spared Americans ftom the kind of religious strife witnessed in Bosnia, the Middle East, Northern Ireland and Afghanistan. Mixing religious dogma and public policy always creates an explosive compound -- and it always blows.