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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
 Posted - 12/03/2005 : 12:58:29
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Christmas is one of only ten official federal holidays in America. Does that make it an endorsement of Christianity by the government, therefore a violation of the Consitution? Why or why not?
I bring this up because I just watched Lori Lipman Brown, the director of the Secular Coalition of America go on the dreaded Bill O'Reilly show and talk about it. If you want to read the transcript or can stand to watch it, go here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,177143,00.html
Here's my take on it: I don't think the holiday was established as an endorsement of Christianity. I think it was established because the vast majority of people wanted it off, so from the government's POV it was a secular/practical matter. After all, if the government really wanted to endorse Christianity, wouldn't Easter also be a federal holiday? But it isn't; it's always on Sunday, so nobody's clamouring to have the day off.
HOWEVER, if too many assholes like Bill O'Reilly interpret the federal holiday as an endorsement of Christianity and successfully push to re-enforce that interpretation by getting tax dollars used to put up exclusively Christmas decorations in the public square, then the holiday becomes a violation of church-state separation and should be rescinded.
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"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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Edited by - marfknox on 12/03/2005 13:00:20
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2005 : 13:47:12 [Permalink]
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Christians love to be persecuted. And the current administration is doing all it can to remind these guys of that persecution. You can bet the Bush is quietly, and sometimes not so quietly, using all sorts of attention getting techniques to make this unimportant issue seem important. So they call the school holidays winter and spring break instead of Christmas and Easter? If you were Jewish or Muslim it might matter to you. When you change the name of a Christmas tree to a Holiday tree it starts to sound a little silly. The word, Christmas doesn't mean anything religious to me just as Halloween isn't some stupid worship of the devil. But if I were Muslim or Jewish or any other religion, it might matter.
Instead of pointing out how many people don't believe in the god, Jesus, Bush is taking advantage of the situation to make it look like Christians are being persecuted and Bush is going to defend them. Of course, using the term 'crusade' to describe our efforts in the Middle East was likely a very stupid blunder Bush made early on. And now, the current actions being taken over the Christmas controversy are a continuation of the same. Anyone notice this whole affair might just be solidifying the Muslim base as much as it is solidifying the Christian base? |
| Edited by - beskeptigal on 12/04/2005 13:47:37 |
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2005 : 15:13:41 [Permalink]
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| Here in Brazil, 'Christmas' doesn't have such a, well, Christian connotation to its name. We call it 'Natal', which means basically "something relating, or having to do with, birth". Birth is question is, obviously, the one of baby Jesus, but it doesn't have a Christian ring to it, as 'Christmas' does. |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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