Christmas Under Siege?

Nothing gets me in the holiday spirit more than when Bill O'Reilly brings up the "War on Christmas." Last night he spent the first segment of his program pulling his hair out and calling the governor of Washington a coward because an atheist group is allowed to put up a sign that says enjoy the winter solstice and, by the way, religion is myth and superstition at the capitol (I paraphrase liberally). He is not calmed by the fact that there is also a Christmas tree and a nativity scene at the capitol as well - this only irritates him more and makes me laugh harder.

O'Reilly has been on this kick for years. He believes the traditions of Christmas are in jeopardy because, among other things, retailers have stopped using the word Christmas in their advertisements, the American Civil Liberties Union has insisted and many ctites and states agree that religious themes are not appropriate in public settings and the phrases "Season's Greetings" and "Happy Holidays" are discriminatory against Christians.

Apparently, according to his logic, if people stop saying "Merry Christmas" to you when you make your purchases at retailers, the United States will turn into Canada! O'Reilly wrote:

Secular progressives realize that America as it is now will never approve of gay marriage, partial birth abortion, euthanasia, legalized drugs, income redistribution through taxation, and many other progressive visions because of religious opposition.

But if the secularists can destroy religion in the public arena, the brave new progressive world is a possibility. That's what happened in Canada.

In 1980, 79 percent of Canadians said that religion was important for the nation there. That number has now dropped to 61percent.

In 1971, less than one percent of the Canadian population reported having no religion. That number has now risen to 16 percent.

The fall of religion in Canada has corresponded to the rise in progressive public policy. Most Canadians now favor gay marriage. The age of consent for sex is 14 years. That means if you're an adult and you have sex with a 15-year-old, that's fine. Welfare's double what it is in the USA. And the Canadian military is almost non-existent. Drug decriminalization is a reality, as is any kind of abortion.

The Canadian model is what progressive Americans are shooting for. Thus, Christian displays like Christmas must be scaled back because the connection with Judeo-Christian beliefs is bad for the secular agenda.

He rants and raves that Christmas traditions are being destroyed and that Ulysses S. Grant made Christmas a federal holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Well, he doesn't have that quite right. The wording of the bill passed in 1870 says nothing of Jesus Christ. It simply states that there will be no business and that the District of Columbia will be closed on January 1, July 4 and December 25. (It also declares that Sunday is the first day of the week, thereby giving credence that Saturday is the sabbath.)

Private property and churches are appropriate for nativity scenes and many of the traditions that O'Reailly is seeking to defend, federal buildings are not. Wishing a person a happy holiday is not an affront to Christmas, it is a statement seeking to be as inclusive as possible for people of all religions and beliefs. Views on issues like same-sex marriage, abortion and drug use do not always fall along religious lines; I'm Catholic and support all of the aforementioned in one shape or form.

Christmas tradition is fluid and has evolved immensely over the centuries. Previously, Christmas has been banned in the United States, Christmas has been celebrated as late as January 12th and Christmas has taken traditions from many pagan celebrations and incorporated them (The History Channel has a great show on the history of Christmas. Click this link for sow times: http://www.history.com/shows.do?action=detail&showId=203415.)

Christmas is alive and well in the United States, but religious fascism is on the decline;that's the real issue that O'Reilly is concerned about. He's really declared "War on Change."

Great Expectations

President-elect Obama has been extremely busy since November 4th. He has already appointed several key members of his administration and he has announced several potential cabinet members. In this respect, he is far ahead of his predecessors.; most presidents-elect do not begin making appointments and nominations until after the first of the year. I believe his rapid work is due to the state of the country and the lame duck that is currently in office. The American people and President Bush are both excited for him to leave office as soon as possible.

Obama is under intense pressure and scrutiny now, before he has even been sworn into office. The right-wing media (yes, I typed that correctly) has labeled the current economic state the "Obama Recession." The rationale is that if people were excited about his stance on the economy that they would be spending and investing. Of course, this makes little sense because we have been in a recession since December of 2007 and people stopped spending and investing long before anyone thought Obama was a viable candidate.

The Republicans want him to get us out of this recession by abolishing all taxes; apparently the Republicans know a lot of people who are hoarding their money out of spite. They speak lightly when they talk about Obama and rarely bring up any other subject outside of taxes.

The liberal portion of the Democratic party is hounding Obama because he is looking at all sides of the argument and considering Republicans for government posts (like he said he would). They would prefer if he just told the Republicans to fuck off and enacted their agenda on January 20th.

Large businesses want bailouts, small businesses want whatever the big industries get, the homeless want homes, the jobless want jobs, and everybody wants more money. It will be impossible to satisfy every request.

I think he is doing a marvelous job thus far. Why? Because politicos in Washington are pissed. And only a smart and crafty politician can get them all to hate you and do what you want anyway. If he is successful, he will very few friends outside of those who elect politicians.