War On Christmas Continues
from Gary Bauer's Newsletter
December 17, 2007
The Left’s war on Christmas continues this year. Barbara Walters, co-host of ABC’s The View, spent much of last Thursday’s show grumbling about receiving a Christmas card from President and Mrs. Bush that included a Bible verse. Walters said, “First of all, let me show you the cover of the White House, which is nice and bland…so that’s pleasant enough. This is what interested me, that it is a religious card. Usually, in the past when I have received a Christmas card, it’s been ‘happy holidays’ and so on… ” The scripture verse Walters was so irritated about says: “You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You gave life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.”
Walters seemed astonished that on a religious holiday (which literally means “holy day”) someone would want to send a religious greeting card. Such a complaint might seem absurd to us, but to liberal elites like Walters, Christmas shouldn’t have anything to do with anything so “divisive” as Christ’s birth. Rather, it should be an all-inclusive celebration, a time when people from all cultures and religions can come together to celebrate equally what they hold in common.
Following her rant, and even as her co-hosts attempted to steer the conversation towards a new topic, Walters repeatedly returned to her bafflement over the Christmas card. “Don’t you think it’s a little interesting that the president of all the people is sending out a religious Christmas card?” Walters asked. She then showed her co-hosts a card sent to her by Elton John and his “partner” that had angels on the cover but wished people “happy holidays.” Of course, a greeting that included “Merry Christmas” would have been a curious choice for the man who recently stated publicly that all organized religions should be banned.
Christians are used to attempts to secularize Christmas. In recent years commonsense has taken a back seat to political correctness and multiculturalism, and in many government schools all recognition of Christmas has been banned. Some schools have gone to the extreme of trying to include all religious or cultural traditions in their holiday celebrations, even those celebrated by just a few students. But one (not surprisingly, very liberal) school district near Washington, D.C., has gone to the other extreme and decided that it will not recognize any religious celebrations this year, which once again proves that those who attempt to believe in everything end up believing in nothing.
Another front in the Christmas wars are our shopping centers. Many retailers have in recent years embraced the false belief that even the acknowledgment of Christmas is insensitive, and many stores have enacted policies that require employees to greet customers with the Barbara Walters-approved “Happy Holidays” rather than the traditional “Merry Christmas,” since the latter may be offensive to the small percentage of Americans who do not celebrate Christmas. Happily, over the last couple years, some stores have revoked these policies and are now instructing their staff that “Merry Christmas” is acceptable. Last Christmas Season, parent companies representing twelve of the nation’s top 20 retailers responded to requests for clarification on their official policies regarding seasonal greetings that employees are allowed or encouraged to use. Most said “Merry Christmas” was allowed and even encouraged in some instances.
This is a good idea. The vast majority of Americans prefer that Christmas be recognized in public places. A recent Rasmussen Reports poll found that 67 percent of respondents preferred to be wished “Merry Christmas,” while just 26 percent preferred “Happy Holidays.” The poll also showed that Americans of almost every subset—including men (69 percent), women (65 percent), married people (69 percent), unmarried people (64 percent), Republicans (88 percent), Democrats (57 percent) and third party supporters (57 percent), all age groups and all but the lowest income group—preferred the traditional Christmas greeting by large margins.
