Anti-Christmas Bigots Ruin the Holidays

Once upon a time, long, long ago, most Americans recognized that Christmas is what we Christians call a feast day and we celebrated it accordingly.

In short, Christmas was the day we chose to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and not merely the arrival of jolly old St. Nick.

Since statistics show that approximately 77 percent of Americans are Christians, they constitute a majority and as such they deserve to have their beliefs, traditions, and customs respected. That is rapidly becoming not the case.


Some of the other 23 percent — the non-Christian minority — resent any official or even quasi-official recognition of this feast day we call Christmas. They will go to great lengths to attempt to prevent the mere mention of the word.

Bill Donohue, the irrepressible president of the feisty Catholic League, cited some recent examples of the insane lengths to which the anti-Christmas bigots will go to disparage this holy season.

Donohue writes, "There is a Christmas tree inside town hall in Cary, North Carolina, but town officials couldn’t bring themselves to call it by its proper name so they re-labeled it the 'Community Tree.' They used to have a 'Holiday Tree' in Madison, Wisconsin, but even that was deemed too improper this year so they opted for 'The State Capitol Tree.' American Atheists threw a party decorating what they called their 'Solstice Tree.'

"Vineland, New Jersey opted to call their Christmas parade the 'Holiday parade' maintaining that because Urban Enterprise Zone dollars are used to fund the parade, they can’t call it the Christmas parade.

"In Howard County, Indiana they decided not to have a manger scene this year and elected instead to have a lighted display of the Loch Ness Monster, a whale and other animals. Waterbury Connecticut is awash in 'Winter' concerts and the like and the sages there even renamed their holiday parties 'celebrations.' What they were celebrating remains a mystery but one thing is for sure: Santa was not allowed to give out gifts as that job was assigned to Frosty the Snowman.

"In Benton, Arkansas, Walmart's hometown, children put on Christmas skits and in one of them the lead character wore a hula. Why? To show that the 'Hula Girl” was rejected because she was not deemed 'Christmasy.' It was announced by the woman in charge of this mess that 'The meaning of Christmas is not to judge each other.'

"Santa was banned from the festivities in the Northern Lehigh School District in Pennsylvania. His role as gift-giver was taken by the district mascot the Bulldog.

"Finally one corporate diversity wag (her actual title is executive director of diversity, inclusion, and engagement) advises against saying 'Happy New Year.' She recommends 'Looking Forward.' By contrast we at the Catholic League are old-fashioned. We are pro-Christmas trees and parades, pro-Santa and wish everyone — including the 'Looking Forward' types — a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year."

Gosh, how did we ever neglect including "a lighted display of the Loch Ness Monster, a whale and other animals" in our manger scenes right beside the Three Wise men who the anti-Christmas fanatics would have us believe are really the babe in the cribs' ACLU lawyers ready to pounce on any official who says "Merry Christmas"?

Having managed to make one of Christianity's two major religious holidays a matter for the courts rather than a glorious national celebration recognizing the nation's religious roots, the anti-Christmas zealots are now launched on a campaign to banish Christ's birthday from the official calendar.

What's next, July Fourth? After all, the Founding Fathers recognized the laws "of Nature's God" in the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence thereby violating the sacred separation of Church and state enshrined of late in the Constitution that was to come.

How can we celebrate Veteran's Day by placing wreaths on the crosses that mark the resting places of our nation's war dead? Crosses? Religious symbols?

It seems that saying Merry Christmas to these bigots is akin to waving a crucifix in front of a vampire. With that in mind allow me to wish them all the merriest Christmas and the happiest New Year's.

Anyway, Merry Christmas to all. And to all a Happy New Year.


Phil Brennan writes for Newsmax.com. He is editor and publisher of Wednesday on the Web (http://www.pvbr.com) and was Washington columnist (Cato) for National Review magazine in the 1960s. He is a trustee of the Lincoln Heritage Institute and a member of the Association For Intelligence Officers. He can be reached at pvb@pvbr.com.