LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY jarandhel)

The American Family Association's early War on Christmas campaign appears to be off to a quick start this year. This is the second email that I've gotten from them, and this time they're calling for a Boycott of Mrs Fields. Naturally, per their request to get it into the hands of as many people as possible, I've decided to forward it to where it might do the most good. ;-) Once again, they using propaganda which conflates "not offering items with Merry Christmas because they don't want to offend anyone" with "not minding if they offend Christians".

( Read more... )

In a matter which is, of course, entirely unrelated I have decided to buy way more cookies from Mrs Fields this Holiday season than I normally would have. ;-)

Edit: Edited to correct the name of the organization involved. It should have been American Family Assocation, not Focus on the Family.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY jarandhel)

Every year it seems that Christmas is marketed to us earlier. Halloween costumes are still on the shelves this year, and I have already seen Christmas trees only aisles away advertising the coming shopping season. And now another sign of the season is coming even earlier as well: the "War on Christmas". ( The American Family Association just sent this charming missive to its mailing list... )

Edit: Edited to correct the name of the organization involved. It should have been American Family Assocation, not Focus on the Family.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY berkeleyfarm)

D_C readers may recall the flap that hit the news when Sea-Tac airport (run by the Port of Seattle) decided to ditch the usual Christmas tree decorations and put up a menorah instead in fulfillment of a rabbi's request for a little "equal opportunity".

All the usual "ZOMG IT'S A WAR ON CHRISTMAS!1!" suspects were out in force. The Port quickly reversed itself and the Christmas trees came back to keep the new menorah company.

I visited a friend of mine in Seattle last weekend and she asked if I had heard the story. "Sure, it was all over the news." She then proceeded to tell me that a long-term friend of hers works at Seatac and that the real reason they were so eager to ditch the Christmas trees was not some animosity towards Christians or Christmas (yeah, we know the trees are really pagan ;)), but because they were ugly and tacky and not well liked by the staff. "I bet you didn't hear *that* on the news." Of course we wouldn't, because that doesn't fit with certain very loud screamers' political agendas.

But I thought y'all might want to know. In case anyone starts fuming about it in your direction, you have The Truth.

As an extra, the fabulous dtaylor pointed me towards Fundies Say The Darndest Things!. Pure comedy gold, and a good place to report Silly Fundie Tricks that aren't specifically dominionist ;).

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY jamie_miller)

On the way through Nashville I saw a giant electronic sign that had the following message (approximately):

HEY PC NITWITS
IT'S NOT HAPPY HOLIDAYS
OR HAPPY WINTER BREAK
OR HAPPY KWANZA (sic)
OR FELIZ NAVIDAD
IT'S MERRY CHRISTMAS!

"Feliz Navidad" is, of course, Spanish for "Merry Christmas."

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY exotic_princess)

From the Houston Chron, editorials on keeping Merry Christmas:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/4389992.html


And the flipside - "There is nothing more anti-Christmas than forcing American businesses and employees to say Merry Christmas."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/4389989.html

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY zrob)

"Wal-Mart Stores. (WMT, news, msgs) The retail giant, a Dow component, said November same-store sales will decline for the first time in a decade, and the stock fell 2.6% on the day. While retail analysts insisted Wal-Mart has a unique set of problems, retail stocks generally were lower."

So...

Last year they embrace Happy HOlidays and sales are up by about 5.4%

This year they make a big deal about going "Merry Christmas" and they see thir first decline in ten years.

Merry War on Christmas to you too!

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY kalibex)

"Redemption Among the Faithful"

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY theonides)

from the Washington Post this morning: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/28/AR2006032801632.html

( War on Christians is alleged at 'conference'. See below cut for complete article. )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ns_kumiho)

But when some local leaders learned last summer about a curriculum package produced by the Bible Literacy Project out of Fairfax, Va., the problem seemed to be solved. The course presents the Bible in a historical and cultural context—giving students a better understanding of biblical allusions in art, literature, and music. More important, it has been vetted by conservative and liberal legal experts to withstand constitutional challenge.

One of the leading advocates of the Bible course, Dr. Randy Brinson, met me at the entrance to the state house. Brinson, a tall, sandy-haired physician from Montgomery who speaks with a twang and the earnest enthusiasm of a youth-group leader, is a lifelong Republican and founder of Redeem the Vote, a national voter-registration organization that targets evangelicals. Since discovering the Bible literacy course, he has successfully lobbied politicians in Florida, Georgia, and Missouri to introduce bills that would set up similar classes. But it is here at home that he's encountered the most resistance. “You should see who's against this thing,” he told me, shaking his head.

Indeed, when Brinson and the other supporters—including several Pentecostal ministers, some Methodists, and a member of the state board of education—entered the state house chamber to make their case, they faced off against representatives from the Christian Coalition, Concerned Women of America, and the Eagle Forum. These denizens of the Christian Right denounced the effort, calling it “extreme” and “frivolous” and charging that it would encourage that most dangerous of activities, “critical thinking.” The real stakes of the fight, though, were made clear by Republican Rep. Scott Beason, when he took his turn at the lectern. “This is more than about God,” he reminded his colleagues. “This is about politics.”

...

"That," he says, "was my first inkling that I wasn't one of them." If being a player in this world meant calling for the heads of moderate Republicans and ginning up fake controversies like a supposed "war on Christmas," Brinson wasn't terribly interested.

...

Randy Brinson chuckled as he reported this to me, saying, "This is smokin' them out. Now we see what they really care about. It's not religion; they care about power."

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/187/story_18742.html

Intresting article on the switching of liberal and moderate Evangelical Christians to the Democrats.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

This Video Dog blog at Salon.com talks about the "War on Christmas" and a certain conservative commentator's comeuppance:

We're waking up briefly from our holiday slumber to bring you the breaking, woeful tale of a fallen Christmas Warrior. It began when Fox News anchor John Gibson, who has been shilling a quickie, inflammatory book on the Fox News-created war on Christmas, was nailed by Media Matters for his comments on a religious-right radio show on Nov. 17. On the show, he warned all the non-Christian infidels who are "following the wrong religion" that "they're not going to have to answer to me. We know who they're going to have to answer to." Nice. "Countdown" host Keith Olbermann blasted him for it in early December. Then Gibson (with an assist from Bill O'Reilly) attacked back, claiming that Olbermann was "misquot[ing] to justify saying some truly disgusting things about me." (Like scandalized church ladies, neither O'Reilly nor Gibson will deign to mention Olbermann by name.) But Olbermann returned Tuesday night to play the tape of Gibson's performance on air (Media Matters has it here) and the proof appears irrefutable. In fact, the long excerpt of the pandering Gibson is even more nauseating, and the fact that he's denying it, more shocking.

Or is it? Take one look at the 59-year-old Gibson's whipped blond pompadour and you suspect the guy's a bold liar. Will Fox stand by their golden-tressed prevaricator or come clean? Yeah, we don't think so, either. Still, don't miss the terrific Olbermann segment (captured by the equally terrific Crooks & Liars) below. His "800 billion flies" reference is a keeper. And catch the full coverage, including all referenced transcripts, at TVNewser.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY kalibex)

The Christmas Wars continue (with disagreement over tactics): the Evangelicals vs the Corporatists

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY pdx42)

The current issue of The Asian Reporter has a story on page 3 about Muslims in Santa Claus costumes volunteering to guard Christian churches this weekend to prevent vandalism and violence in Jakarta. I didn't find the story online, but since I'm not accomplishing anything at work right now, I've typed out part of it.

Muslim Organization will guard churches on Xmas
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Cautious Clauses. Indonesians dressed in Santa Claus costumes wave on the street during a Christmas event in Jakarta, Indonesia. The youth wing of Indonesia's largest Islamic organization will deploy uniformed members to guard [Christian] churches over the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

Hotel security men with Santa Claus costumes stand guard with a Indonesia police officer in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Dec 23, 2005. Thousands of troops were being deployed to guard Indonesian churches Friday amid warnings that al-Qaida linked militants were planning Christmas terror attacks in the world's most populous Muslim nation. (AP Photo/ Achmad Ibrahim)

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

From Americans United:

The Religious Right's Phony 'War on Christmas': Mything in Action

An Americans United Report — 12-19-05

Religious Right leaders and their allies in the right-wing news media claim there is a “war on Christmas.” To prove their charge, they have rolled out a series of allegations involving bias against Christmas by government officials and public schools. Researchers at Americans United for Separation of Church and State looked into the most common examples of supposed hostility toward Christmas and found them largely baseless.( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY jarandhel)

Some of you may remember a post here a while ago talking about intolerance towards Christians in the form of a school rewriting the Christmas Carol "Silent Night" to a secular version "Cold in the Night". But I'm not sure how many of you have caught the follow-up to that story.

As it turns out? It never happened. The whole thing was a dominionist hoax. What actually happened was not a secular rewrite of a christmas carol, but a school performance of an old play entitled "The Little Tree's Christmas Gift", originally written by Dwight Elrich, who happens to lead the New Covenant Singers of Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles. The song "Cold in the Night" is sung by the main character of the little tree, who is told it is "too scraggly, it will never sell," in a scene lamenting his situation.

And if you're still not convinced of the level of deception it took to label this rewrite an attack on Christmas or a mockery of Christians, the play closes with the entire audience singing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas."

Happy Holidays, everyone.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY neadods)

Last night Congress voted 401 - 22 to "protect the symbols and traditions of Christmas."

Whereas the Framers intended that the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States would prohibit the establishment of religion, not prohibit any mention of religion or reference to God in civic dialog: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) recognizes the importance of the symbols and traditions of Christmas;

(2) strongly disapproves of attempts to ban references to Christmas; and

(3) expresses support for the use of these symbols and traditions. (text from Library of Congress website.)

Democrat Steve Israel asked the Republican author of the resolution, Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-VA), if she would permit the symbols of Chanukah and other holidays to be included in the protection of the resolution. She refused. The same site quotes several of the Congresspeople brave enough to stand up for the First Amendment and those of their constituents who are being denied equal protection for their beliefs:

Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY): "There are people around who need an enemy at all times to try to separate us one from the other as Americans in order to advance their own agenda. ... To tell the truth, it is slightly offensive to see people trying to create a war and claiming they are attacked just so that they go on the offense instead of the defense. This is a prefabricated issue that has no merit. Nobody is attacking the symbols of Christmas. Are you objecting to our wanting to be included because the symbols of your religion are more important than the symbols of anybody else's religion in America? Or is it because you think that the symbols of your religion are more official?"

-----

Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA): "Madam Speaker, this resolution purports to protect the symbols of Christmas, but what really needs to be protected are not the symbols of Christmas, but rather the spirit of Christmas. The spirit of Christmas demands generosity and goodwill towards others. Instead of legislation that respects the spirit of Christmas, Congress in just these past few weeks has passed a budget that includes mean-spirited attacks on the least of us. For those who are hungry, we are cutting food stamps. For those who are sick, we are cutting Medicaid. For those who are in prison, we are imposing senseless mandatory minimums. For others we are ignoring increases in heating costs and cutting student loans. At the same time we are cutting those programs to help the least of us, we are cutting taxes for the wealthiest in society. Madam Speaker, we ought to express our passion for Christmas through deeds, not words; and we should not be distracted from our responsibility to uphold the spirit of Christmas as we consider the effects our actions on the Federal budget will have on the least of us during this holiday season. For these reasons I oppose this resolution."

----

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY): "For someone who does not celebrate Christmas, the question looms: Why? Why not say to someone who wants to make this inclusive that, indeed, we are going to make it inclusive? The symbols of Chanukah are not valuable? Sure, they are, I think. The symbols of Kwanzaa are not valuable to some? Sure, they are. I cannot imagine why the gentlewoman who is the sponsor of this, who says that she speaks from a sense of inclusion, would not want to include those. Are those not worthy of being protected? What is the message that is being sent?"

----

Congressman Dingell, who voted for the resolution, nevertheless raked it down in a satirical poem on his webpage.

The "War on Christmas" just drew blood. So much for "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." There are a lot of Jews on my friends list who are furious that Congressional support has been point-blank denied for "the use of [their] symbols and traditions."

And even if O'Reilly gets wind of this and trumpets it as a great victory, we all know that he's going to be screaming about the same "war" next winter holiday season, just has he has for the last two.

x-posted to personal journal

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY navytron89)

Well "the War on Christmas" is still going on thanks to the Liberty Counsel's  "Friend or Foe" Cam-pain (in the arse) .

Thanks  to the Rev. Falwell and John Gibson's book ''The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought."  I believe the grand old paper "The Boston Globe" has the final opinion on this "war". 

Let's be honest there is no hidden plot to destroy Christmas, even the secular humanist magazine says John Gibson has gone to far with this silly nonsense.

But you know journalist who become "writers" have to write about something and if not they will make it up (that called fiction Mr. Gibson, like Grisham and Patterson). 

To make matters worse he is using a holiday which stands for peace and good will toward your fellow human being to generate anomosity among the Christian Sheeple by writting a plot about Christmas being destroyed. (Hey, maybe next Mr. Gibson should write about Bush 2.0's  secret weather satillites he used to control the hurricanes from space to destroy NOLA with as Luis Farrakahn suggested).  

Additionally this "Friend of Foe" Campaign is really a plan to further divide those who are hardcore Christian believers from the more center line people, its pretty sad than instead of showing "Christian values" of compassion and charity we see aggression and phoney phobias generated by this fear mongering.

The evils that these people are causing and they call themselves "Christian"????  IMO, if you two call yourself  Christian, then I should be nominated for sainthood.

My question is where is Jessica Hahn when you need her ????

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY marvelouswings)

I was looking through Kansas newspapers for some opinion pieces on Paul Mirecki's stepping down as Chair of the Religious Diversity department, and ran across this opinion piece by Rhonda Chris in the Kansas City Star. Nice to see someone in the media actually tackling the issue.

How the Right Wing Grinches Try to Steal Christmas

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY exotic_princess)

I know this is becoming a prominent theme, but thought it would be apropos to show just how far some are going in the Holiday/Christmas War.

This is from a congregation in the Tampa area. Found the picture in a friend's livejournal. Scary! If you check out the website listed on the banner, they've got a petition going to boycott all the 'holiday' using stores. *headdesk*

http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/4637/hellwithholidays0eh.jpg - "To HELL with the word Holiday; put Christ back in CHRISTmas."

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY thoth_moon)

Okay, I'll be brief, but who all here thinks that this whole debate over "merry Christmas" versus "happy Holidays" is a grossly stupid church&state separation debate? Man, I just LOVE how they fight over whether or not to call it a "Christmas tree" or a "Holiday tree", while much more important issues, such as the spread of vermin "faith-based" organizations for the dumbest stuff (such as, from a previous entry I read on this community, the Catholic sent to the Pentacostal "drug therapy" program; or the "Christian" camps that "fix" homosexual teens, or so on- you know, IMPORTANT issues?) are completely ignored??? I personally don't give a flying fuck what you call it, okay? This entire holiday argument is STUPID if you think about it- hello??? Freedom-fighers, dominionists, ya'll have MUCH bigger stuff to argue about, right?

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY nebris)

By Ellen Goodman
December 9, 2005
From The Boston Globe

WASHINGTON
SOME YEARS ago my husband was a last-minute draft pick to play the role of godfather at a young friend's naming ceremony. Admittedly, his relationship to organized religion was a bit dicey, but you know how it is in the understudy business.( Let's hear it for Cotton Mather )