Is There a War on Christmas? You Betcha!

Is There a War on Christmas? You Betcha!

By Tim Wildmon
December 19, 2006

(AgapePress) - Perhaps you saw the story out of the state of Washington last week, where a Jewish rabbi wanted to have a menorah (seven-branched candelabrum) put up at the Seattle-Tacoma airport alongside the "holiday" trees that are traditionally on display this time of year. Before political correctness came along, we all knew that these trees were called Christmas trees. In fact, there is a fellow selling trees near my house whose sign reads: "We don't sell holiday trees; we sell Christmas trees." Now there is a man after my own heart!

Those responsible for putting the trees up at the airport -- the Seattle Port Authority -- took them down very quickly when they got the letter from the rabbi. When the rabbi explained that he was not threatening legal action to have the trees removed -- only that he was requesting a menorah be put up -- the trees went back up again. Follow me here? It was a total overreaction on the part of the Port Authority, but this is the climate the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has created in our country where public officials think they may be sued because they display Christmas trees. Not Nativity scenes mind you, but trees. It's insane.

The NBC Today show interviewed me on Monday about this story and about the general idea of a war on Christmas. They wanted to know what I thought about it. They taped a good 20 minutes of questions and answers. Ten seconds of it showed up on the program. But what I basically said was, "Yes, there is a war on Christmas. How many examples do you need?"

I went on to explain that there are forces afoot in America that want to "sanitize" our country of its Christian heritage, and one of the ways this can be accomplished is by diminishing the impact of Christ on Christmas and diminishing the impact of Christmas on the American consciousness. You do this over time. This is also accomplished under the banner of promoting "multi-culturalism," "diversity" and "tolerance" -- all of which I don't have a problem with in their proper context. But what I resent, and a whole lot of Americans resent, is when in the name of multi-culturalism, diversity and tolerance, we began to sacrifice traditions that have made America great in the first place.

For example, news services across the country reported this earlier in the week: "Zogby polling shows an overwhelming majority (95 percent) say they are not offended by being greeted with a 'Merry Christmas' while shopping, including 98 percent for weekly Wal-Mart shoppers. But greet them with a 'Happy Holidays,' and 46 percent say they take offense."

The reason that 46 percent of those surveyed take offense is because they are Christmas shopping, not holiday shopping, and everyone knows this. Families don't give each other presents on Thanksgiving Day. Kids don't run downstairs on New Year's morning seeing what awaits them under the holiday tree. The Christmas-gift buying season is what keeps the American retail business in business.

These numbers also mean that most citizens want Christmas to maintain the special place it has long held in the American heart. We don't want to see Christmas melt into a generic "holiday season" or "winter celebration" some hard-core secularists and atheists want to see happen.

Now I am about to give you an example of how the political correctness / multi-culturalism movement seeks to remove the Christian message about Christmas from the scene. One of the things it has done recently is attempt to elevate Hanukkah and Kwanzaa as if they were equal to Christmas in American cultural relevance. They are not, but because we have been brainwashed with political correctness for a number of years now -- and because we are fearful of being labeled racist or as anti-Jewish -- many people in our country feel compelled to mention Hanukkah and Kwanzaa in the same sentence with Christmas. In America, Christmas -- as a holiday -- has always been in a league of its own. It points to the message of Christ and to our Christian heritage, and that is what the multi-culturalists and the politically-correct crowd want to change.

Hanukkah is actually a minor Jewish holiday. Passover and Yom Kippur are much more important to practicing Jews. As for Kwanzaa -- which is a celebration of African culture observed from Dec. 26 - Jan. 1 -- very few people had ever even heard of it before 10 years ago. The majority of African-Americans don't even celebrate it. Compare that to the fact that the vast majority of black people do celebrate Christmas.

Another interesting fact here is that Christians do not consider the tree to have any spiritual significance. Especially in the same way a Jew looks at a menorah for instance. A Nativity scene would be the equivalent to the Christian. The tree is simply a traditional decoration that many Americans use to mark the Christmas season. Most people consider them just something nice to look at.

As a Christian I don't have a particular problem with the menorah being up at an airport. After all, Christianity does have its roots in Judaism. But putting the Christmas trees back up was the right thing to do. We can't give in to those who are on a mission to rewrite the history of America and remove any vestige of Christianity from the public square.
Tim Wildmon is president of American Family Association, one of the largest pro-family organizations in the country. He also leads tours of Washington, DC, and Mount Vernon twice a year with special emphasis on America's Christian heritage. More information on the tours is available at SpiritualHeritageTours.com.

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