Winning The War - One Battle at a Time
By Rob Hood (11/30/06)
When you read the title of this article you may immediately think that it refers to the war in Iraq. As bad as the war in Iraq is, this is not the topic for today. The war I am referring to is that culture war right here at home - and particularly, the war on Christmas this year.
In the last few years we have read about nativity scenes banned, Christmas songs such as "Away in a Manger", or "Silent Night" and so forth have been banned from school Christmas plays. As a matter of fact the school play isn't even a Christmas play anymore anyway. It is a "Holiday play" or a "winter play" and so forth. When I was in school, we used to get out for two weeks for Christmas break. Now the children get out for the politically correct "Winter break".
At least some retailers are getting the message that people do not want to secularize Christmas. The day is all about the birth of Jesus Christ, not about anything else. Of course giving and receiving gifts is fun and there is nothing wrong with that. It is a symbol of the three wise men who brought gifts to the newborn King (Jesus). Now some want to dismiss this two thousand year old story and secularize a day set apart for the celebration of a savior.
Some argue that Jesus was not born in December, but in the spring. Well, I personally don't know if that is true or not. However, it makes no difference whether he was born on December 25 or August 15. The actual birthdate is not as significant as the meaning of the celebration itself. Some fail to realize that we are not celebrating a date, but an event that happened long ago that would change the world forever.
If people want to celebrate some other celebration near this same time, then fine. I have no problem with that. However, I do have a problem with the banning of the nativity scene, Christmas songs, and other related things. Just recently in Chicago, ads for the upcoming new movie "The Nativity" was not permitted because "it might offend non-Christians" according to city officials there. This was a public Christmas festival that was not permitted to even display the Christmas story. Now, I bet that if that had been a Muslim display, it would have been permitted. There is certainly a double standard and we as Christians are going to have to start taking a stand and putting these officials like this on the spot when they participate in religious discrimination such as this. A group called the Willow Creek Association compared this to having an Abraham Lincoln birthday celebration and then not mention Abraham Lincoln during the celebration.
At least retailers like Sears are displaying Christmas this year. I recently walked into a Sears store and did not see many "Happy Holidays" posters all over like I did last year. This was different. There were "Merry Christmas" signs in place of the Happy Holidays signs. Perhaps Sears is beginning to see a backlash of Christian customers just like Ford Motor Company is right now. While Ford will never admit it, their slow sales pace is contributed to hundreds of thousands of Christians boycotting all branches of the company for their stance on same-sex marriage and homosexuality. The same goes for Wal-Mart. While Wal-Mart reinstated "Merry Christmas" it may not help them that much. I feel that the only reason that they brought it back was to gain the lost customers who vowed not to buy from Wal-Mart again until they stopped donating to pro-homosexual groups. Wal-Mart, since they started these donations, have lost sales simply because no one wants to support a business that supports what the Bible deems as sin. Right now Wal-Mart and Ford Motor Company are examples of what happens when companies go wild. Not only will customers not buy, but I doubt whether God will bless the company further either.
The only thing that I have left to say about this current secular crisis is Thank God for people like Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel. Thank God for Jerry Falwell, Alliance Defense Fund, American Center For Law and Justice, Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, Thomas Moore Law Center, and many others. Without these and talk radio, conservative Christians would be left in the dark about what is going on in this wicked world that endangers religious freedom and freedom of speech to Christians.
RESOURCES:
The assault on Christmas
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DonKroah/2006/11/27/the_assault_on_christmas
It’s Okay to say “Merry Christmas”
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/JanetMLaRue/2006/11/28/its_okay_to_say_merry_christmas
Commercialism Inundates the Holidays (Fee Benamon)
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/benamon/061122
“Nativity” ban is the ultimate religious discrimination
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200611/CUL20061128a.html
Chicago festival nixes “Nativity Story” ads
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,232239,00.html
Christians begin to see momentum on the War on Christmas
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200611/CUL20061129a.html
Christian lawyers ready to fight war on Christmas
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1124christmas1124.html
Michigan cities ban religious Christmas displays
http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2006/11/michigan-cities-eliminate-religious.html
He whose name we dare not speak: Taking Christ out of CHRISTmas
http://www.americandaily.com/article/16544
Christians blast Chicago for “Nativity” movie ban
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53144
Whistleblower December: The Miracle of the Bible
http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53140
Christ, Christmas, and the U.S. Constitution
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n2/christ-christmas-constitution
Thomas Moore Law Center confronts ACLU over nativity scene ban
http://www.thomasmore.org/news.html?NewsID=454
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