War on Christmas
The War on Christmas refers specifically to the controversy surrounding the celebration or acknowledgment of the Christmas holiday in government, media, advertising and other secular environments. Modern-day controversy occurs around the world, and stems from the holiday's significant annual role in celebrating cultural values in Western society. See The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought. Fox News has been particularly vocal in the War on Christmas, trying to prevent secular censorship of Christmas celebration.[2] Bill O'Reilly had devoted numerous segments on his show in its later years to the War on Christmas.
Contents
Militant atheists and Christmas
See also: Atheism and Christmas and Atheism and holidays
Atheists of the militant atheism/antitheism school of atheist thought play a significant role as far as the War on Christmas, often feigning concern for the sensitivities of Jews and other religious groups who do not celebrate Christmas, knowing people sympathize with Jews, but rarely ever with atheists. This is typical of the selfishness of atheism. See also: Atheism and Christmas
As Part of the Culture Wars
Culture War is a term used to describe the swaying of what is acceptable in society between culturally conservative and liberal. To that end, the War on Christmas is a major skirmish in that war. Each year, more and more secular progressives work to eradicate the right of major retailers to say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Christmas" in favor of the more benign, and ultimately godless "Happy Holidays." The term "Christmas Tree" is also being replaced by "Holiday Tree" in some places.[3] When the retailer gives in, they are less likely to begin using the older terms again, and, in order to save money and time, will simply acquiesce to the will of the liberal protesters, saying "Happy Holidays" from that time on.
Conservatives argue that this is a form of censorship by the liberal minority in society, tasked with the purpose of removing even the smallest mention of the Christmas Holiday. An obvious danger for conservatives is the notion that such an issue will become a slippery slope. Once the issue is removed from public discourse, the next removal becomes that much easier.
True Christians and the War on Christmas
True Christians know that Christmas is all about celebrating the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. They recognize that the War on Christmas focuses largely on the commercial or otherwise non-religious aspects of modern Christmas celebration, and has little to do with the true Miracle and message of Christmas.[4] It should not matter how people greet each other at malls or other retail establishments, or what name they give to a festively decorated evergreen.
Some Christian churches, sects, and communities reject the observance of Christmas for theological reasons. Christian sects that don't celebrate Christmas include Jehovah's Witnesses;[5] Armstrongites;[6] some adherents of Messianic Judaism;[7] most Sabbatarian denominations, such as the True Jesus Church and the Church of God (7th-Day);[8] the Iglesia ni Cristo;[9] the Christian Congregation in Brazil; the Christian Congregation in the United States; certain reformed and fundamentalist churches of various persuasions, including some Independent Baptists,[10] Holiness Christians, Oneness Pentecostals,[11] Amish-Mennonites, and Churches of Christ congregations.[12][13]
Atheist, lawsuits and restrictions to religious freedom
See also: Atheist lawsuits
Atheists in the Western World are litigious. Often they use ligitation to restrict the degree of religious freedom in a society.
The Freedom From Atheism Foundation has a webpage on their website entitled "Ongoing Lawsuits".[14] The American Atheists has a webpage on their website entitled "Legal sucesses".[15] The Center for Inquiry engaged in lawsuits related to faith based initiatives concerning prison ministry.[16][17][18][19]
In June 2014, given the focus of atheist organizations on lawsuits, Sikivu Hutchinson wrote in the Washington Post that atheist organizations generally focus on church/state separation and creationism issues and not the concerns the less affluent African-American population faces.[20] Hutchinson also mentioned that church organizations do offer significant help to poor African-Americans.[20] See also: Atheism and charity and Western atheism and race
Atheist lawsuits against other atheists
See: Atheist lawsuits against other atheists
Denial
As is common, individuals with a tendency toward liberal ideologies will not see the War on Christmas as real, and when confronted or called out on the issue, will often publicly deny that there is such a controversy.[21][22][23][24] Such denial by liberals is, in fact, a deceitful part of their strategy in the War on Christmas, allowing them to publicly claim that "there is no War on Christmas" while they simultaneously engage in their efforts to suppress and even eliminate the public celebration of Christmas.
In other nations
Christmas celebrations are banned in Somalia, Brunei, Tajikistan, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia.[25]
See also
Further reading
- Why Is There a War on Christmas?, by John F. McManus of The New American
References
- ↑ We're Saying Merry Christmas Again!' Trump Praises 'Judeo-Christian Values' To Conservatives | TIME
- ↑ "War on Christmas." Fox Nation. http://nation.foxnews.com/topics/war-on-christmas/
- ↑ Levitz, Jennifer. "Tree Lighting Sparks Protests in Rhode Island." December 7, 2011. Wall Street Journal Dispatch. https://blogs.wsj.com/dispatch/2011/12/07/tree-lighting-sparks-protests-in-rhode-island/
- ↑ Wallis, Jim. "The Real War On Christmas... By Fox News." December 15, 2011. Huffington Post. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/the-real-war-on-christmas_b_1151709.html?ref=religion&ir=Religion
- ↑ Jehovah's Witness on Christmas. www.jw.org. Retrieved on 1 January 2013.
- ↑ Christmas Unveiled—What God Says!. Retrieved on December 30, 2017.
- ↑ Messianic Judaism: The Followers of Christ Who Do Not Celebrate Christmas. The Christian Post (8 December 2011). Retrieved on 1 January 2013.
- ↑ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). churchofgod-7thday.org. Retrieved on 1 January 2013.
- ↑ All About Iglesia ni Cristo: Frequently Asked Questions. iglesianicristowebsite.com. Retrieved on 1 January 2013.
- ↑ Wilson, Greg. The Truth about Christmas.
- ↑ Jesus Name Apostolic Holiness Church - Oneness Pentecostal.
- ↑ Is Christmas Biblical?. tjc.org. Retrieved on 1 January 2013.
- ↑ "'Christ' in Christmas?: Churches of Christ and the Holiday Season", Christian Chronicle. Retrieved on 22 January 2017.
- ↑ Ongoing Lawsuits - Legal - Freedom From Religion Foundation
- ↑ Legal sucesses - American Atheists
- ↑ Postal, Leslie (April 20, 2011). Bill asks voters to OK taxpayer funding of religious institutions. Orlando Sentinel.
- ↑ Mazzei, Patricia (April 27, 2011). Blaine amendment repeal passes Florida house. Tampa Bay Times.
- ↑ Center for Inquiry will not appeal adverse decision in Florida lawsuit. CFI (February 8, 2016).
- ↑ Bettis, Kara (February 23, 2016). Atheists drop suit to block Christian prison ministry funding. New Boston Post. Retrieved on May 16, 2016.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Atheism has a big race problem that no one’s talking about by Dr. Sikivu Hutchinson, Washington Post June 16, 2014
- ↑ Three reasons why the New York Times' War on Christmas denial is all wrong at FoxNews.com
- ↑ The War on Christmas at Catholic League website (December 12 - "In 2012, there were instances of denial from many quarters as to the very existence of the War on Christmas. An editorial in the Duluth News Tribune questioned, “There’s Still a ‘War on Christmas’?” Atheist Jeff Sorensen flatly declared in the the Huffington Post that “There is no war on Christmas.” Statesman Journal columnist Dick Hughes wrote a piece about the “phony and irrelevant War on Christmas.” MSNBC madman Lawrence O’Donnell said the War on Christmas had a “body count” of “zero.” Frank Bruni of the New York Times said there could hardly be a War on Christmas given that “We have God on our dollars, God in our pledge of allegiance, God in our Congress.” The Boston Globe editorialized that “Ignoring the ‘war on Christmas’ is the best way to eliminate it altogether.”"
- ↑ Spinning into Denial at Catholic League website
- ↑ The War on the War on Christmas at NewsBusters
- ↑ "8 countries that banned Christmas", Metro, 2015-12-25. (en-GB)