A lot has been said about the War on Christmas, and how it doesn't exist. The catch is that it's an interesting conflict in ideologies, and one that can make for some interesting cultural anthropology. The problem is one of semantics, and how one defines "war".
A "war" doesn't need to mean something involving guns and bombs. It can be a revolution, where one ideology seeks to supplant another. While some revolutions have been big and obvious, some have been much smaller, as one idea attempts to subvert the other. This can make life interesting for those at the extremes of either side of the battle as they try and figure out how to win a victory for their side. It's entirely possible that most people involved don't even realize that a war is even being fought, or that those that fighting it are being downright silly. The so-called "War on Christmas" is one of the latter.
At one extreme there are some atheists that are attempting to stop Christmas as a way to slap down religion. These are usually the ones that enforce the law when it comes to the separation of Church and State, usually when it comes to some sort of religious celebration around the holidays. Some file complaints at work at the slightest mention of a "Christmas party", while others move into school districts so that they can stop the relevant schools from celebrating Christmas on the school grounds, especially if one of the schools has a widely-known tradition of celebrating Christmas. Some atheists have even resorted to court cases in support of their cause.
And then there are the idiots on the other side who see every new judgement as a nuclear strike on Christianity. This has proven great for ratings, and makes filling church coffers that much easier, as every rating point and dollar raised is seen as a defense against the heathen hordes. Fox News is especially good at using the "War on Christmas" to secure ratings, and has even used countdowns to foster some sort of panic mode in order to make themselves look that much better. It can, and has, gotten silly to the point that even Colbert and Stewart have had fun with it.
While religion and government need to remain separate, there needs to be some gray area. This is not to say that the government should become an advocate of religion, but rather that it should allow for the beliefs of those in the immediate area, and that local celebrations should be allowed in the buildings in question in the same sense that other organizations are allowed in, with the same restrictions. Obviously this should not apply to buildings that do not rent out spaces to the general public, such as court houses and most office buildings, but if the organization does, such as schools and some office buildings, it should be as long as space is rented out as normal. As long as it doesn't break any rules and they have paid for the space, there should not be problem in what they do with it.
At some point the religious and non-religious extremists need to just let things go. It should be easy to broker a piece between the two sides, far easier than it seems sometimes. Hopefully that is one the horizon...
A "war" doesn't need to mean something involving guns and bombs. It can be a revolution, where one ideology seeks to supplant another. While some revolutions have been big and obvious, some have been much smaller, as one idea attempts to subvert the other. This can make life interesting for those at the extremes of either side of the battle as they try and figure out how to win a victory for their side. It's entirely possible that most people involved don't even realize that a war is even being fought, or that those that fighting it are being downright silly. The so-called "War on Christmas" is one of the latter.
At one extreme there are some atheists that are attempting to stop Christmas as a way to slap down religion. These are usually the ones that enforce the law when it comes to the separation of Church and State, usually when it comes to some sort of religious celebration around the holidays. Some file complaints at work at the slightest mention of a "Christmas party", while others move into school districts so that they can stop the relevant schools from celebrating Christmas on the school grounds, especially if one of the schools has a widely-known tradition of celebrating Christmas. Some atheists have even resorted to court cases in support of their cause.
And then there are the idiots on the other side who see every new judgement as a nuclear strike on Christianity. This has proven great for ratings, and makes filling church coffers that much easier, as every rating point and dollar raised is seen as a defense against the heathen hordes. Fox News is especially good at using the "War on Christmas" to secure ratings, and has even used countdowns to foster some sort of panic mode in order to make themselves look that much better. It can, and has, gotten silly to the point that even Colbert and Stewart have had fun with it.
While religion and government need to remain separate, there needs to be some gray area. This is not to say that the government should become an advocate of religion, but rather that it should allow for the beliefs of those in the immediate area, and that local celebrations should be allowed in the buildings in question in the same sense that other organizations are allowed in, with the same restrictions. Obviously this should not apply to buildings that do not rent out spaces to the general public, such as court houses and most office buildings, but if the organization does, such as schools and some office buildings, it should be as long as space is rented out as normal. As long as it doesn't break any rules and they have paid for the space, there should not be problem in what they do with it.
At some point the religious and non-religious extremists need to just let things go. It should be easy to broker a piece between the two sides, far easier than it seems sometimes. Hopefully that is one the horizon...
No comments:
Post a Comment