The Faux War on Christmas

As part of their campaign to depict themselves and fellow Christianists as constant victims of persecution, the lunatic far right have in recent years whined about the secularization of Christmas and the efforts of retailers to not offend non-Christians during the Christmas holidays. The professional victim set care nothing for the religious freedom of other Americans and would prefer to force all citizens regardless of the religious faith to have to give obeisance to Christian traditions. With the Christianists, it is ALWAYS all about them and to Hell with everyone else. If these whiners spent half as much time engaging in Christian charity work with no desire for reward, Christianity would have a far better image in the USA. CNN looks at this concocted faux war that has one purpose: to line the pockets of the professional Christians with money. Here are some highlights:

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Americans are in a war that pits the politically correct against Christmas carolers, some say. They say it's a battle that plays out in the halls of Congress, retail stores and public schools across the country, and it's one that's been raging for years. Republican Rep. Henry Brown of South Carolina introduced a resolution this month asking that the House express support for the use of Christmas symbols and traditions and frown on any attempt to ban references to the holiday. So far, the resolution has one Democrat and 72 Republicans as co-sponsors. The House hasn't taken it up, but the chamber adopted similar resolutions in the past.
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Barry Lynn, an ordained minister and executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, isn't keen on the prospect of congressional action. "Resolutions like this come up because there is this bizarre view by some members of Congress that there is a war on Christmas and that they have to be the generals in some responding army," he said. "My advice to the lawmakers would be promote any religion you have through your private acts, and don't try to 'help' the baby Jesus by passing a resolution on his behalf. It is arrogant and ridiculous at the same time," Lynn said.
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In California, Tea Party activist Merry Hyatt is trying to get support for a ballot initiative that would require that public schools give their students an opportunity to hear Christmas songs. (Parents could opt out for their children).Lynn said the move violates the principles of church-state separation. "It's not being anti-Christmas to recognize that most Christmas carols are really hymns, and a hymn is a prayer set to music."
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In Washington, Republicans have taken up the war on Christmas as their own battle. "Republicans and conservatives have definitely gained a lot of political points by pointing out some of the silliest and more extreme examples of political correctness," said Tom Smith, director of the General Social Survey at the National Opinion Research Center.
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But Republicans also should worry about pushing it too far, he added, because the American people believe in "good liberal thoughts" like "diversity and different people all being treated the same." It's OK to attack political correctness, he said, but the GOP must be careful not to come off as "anti-minority or against diversity." The attack can backfire as well if voters think their representative is more committed to protecting Christmas than protecting jobs or economic stability, Smith said.

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The reality, of course, is that the GOP IS against minorities and diversity. Increasingly, if one isn't a white Bible thumper typically from the South, the GOP wants nothing to do with you.

Response to a Wingnut

As you might imagine, I receive a significant number of attacks from the Christianist sheeple set taking me to task for not blindly and slavishly conforming to their literal - and as is always the case, very selective - application of the Bible. As long as their ox isn't being gored, literalism is great. But when the issue of divorce, not bearing false witness, etc., arise, their literalism goes out the window. In short, I hear from many, many modern day Pharisees as I call them. Most - as a post yesterday indicates - do not have the guts to identify themselves and stand behind their intolerant and often down right hateful statements.

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Without fail, these folks seem incapable of grasping the concept of separation of church and state and are Hell bent to impose their religious beliefs on all citizens. Freedom of religion for them is very much a one way street. Likewise, they have no concept of minority rights - majority mob rule is what they are all about. Last night, I received a lengthy e-mail from one of these (in my opinion) loons which was full of the usual Bible thumping and majority rule rants. What was unusual is that this writer - one Robert Martin who by the way is most unhappy with the 23 San Jose area churches I wrote about that opposed Proposition 8 - used what I assume was real his name and used what appears to be a real e-mail address ( bobmartin30@gmail.com). I will not belabor readers with his long screed, but he is my reply to him:

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Mr. Martin,

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I have heard all of your arguments before - in essence they come down to (1) the support of majority mob rule and (2) a mindless following of the Bible as the inerrant word of God - which I am sorry to say it is not. On the latter point, you might consider reading John Shelby Spong's "Saving the Bible from Fundamentalism" as well as some other works by Biblical scholars. To me, it's pretty clear that only those who are ignorant or have a fearful need to put God in a box so as to avoid the need for serious thought cling to your approach to the Bible. On the former issue, the founding fathers specifically wanted to insure that a majority could not terrorize and run rough shod over a minority group, the courts being the main bulwark to protect minority groups. Under your theory, if I could round up a majority vote, we could amend the state and national constitutions to deprive Catholics of voting rights and other civil rights, Per your argument, that would be just fine and dandy. I suspect you'd be less of an advocate for mob majority rule were that to occur.

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Also, I would think as a Catholic, you'd be more careful to not be so damn sure that your views are right. The Roman Catholic Church - I am a former Catholic by the way - has a very long history of being wrong on the issues when it comes to refusing to accept scientific and other advances in knowledge (e.g., formerly supporting slavery, believing the universe revolves around the earth - the list goes on and on). All of the legitimate medical and mental health experts agree that sexual orientation is not a choice and that same sex attraction and love is "normal" for some of us. God I'm sure knows this too - and will judge modern day Pharisees such as yourself very harshly for your persecution of gays.

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Oh and as for the anger, the hostility, I see the lives of LGBT citizens damaged every day by the ignorance and intolerance of those like you. Suicide, years of self-hate and self-loathing and loss of jobs, etc., are the handiwork that comes from Christianists and Bible thumpers like yourself. What makes it worse is that it all derives from those with a fragile faith in God who seek to impose their very fallible judgments on others so that they can feel secure and self-satisfied. You bet it makes me angry. I will pray that God will open your eyes and heal your intolerant hate filled heart.

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Michelinnorfolk

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I'm sure that a number of you have thoughts you could share with Mr. Martin as well.