Christmas Backlash a Conservative Power Play, Says The Guardian

This is The Guardian's spin on the backlash against the deChristmasizing of Christmas:



“The religious right, encouraged by the re-election of President George Bush, has launched a new offensive against secularism during this holiday season, with a campaign to put the Christ back into Christmas. The target of the conservatives' wrath include leading department stores and state schools, at the hub of the struggle for America's soul because public education is the country's defining institution.



The campaign obscures a larger debate about religion and diversity in America, one that has been revived with the re-election of President Bush.



"I do think that with the more conservative wing of the Republican party in power they feel that this is their time to reassert what they consider to be their rights in the public schools, and in the public square," said Charles Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment Centre in Washington.



I don’t think this has anything to do with emergent conservative power. It’s about Christians striving to keep their faith visible in the public square.



The guardian does point out the actions of “two mothers in Maine who launched a website called Bring Back Christmas, one of the “little platoons” fighting this battle at the local. They’re not focused on the results of the November elections, but on the values of their little town of Scarborough, Maine.



They say on their website:



America is a nation of diverse, deep, rich and beautiful traditions. We have somehow drifted from that. Little by little we are becoming a plain vanilla, whitewashed, stand-for-nothing society. In an attempt not to “offend” anyone, we are losing what is most precious in, to and about us. This mentality in our schools and in society in general has led to a practice of eliminating anything with which a vocal minority disagrees. But if we hide and hush everything that anyone disapproves of, the logical consequence is that we hide and hush everything. We saw a bumper sticker recently that sums it up for us. It read, “Protect the Easily Offended--Ban Everything.”



There is a much better way. Instead of banning everything that does not meet with everyone’s approval, let’s acknowledge and truly celebrate what is special and precious about our beliefs. Instead of excluding everyone, let’s work to include everyone. Let’s start now!

--James Jewell