Monday, January 01, 2007
The war on Christmas, and Christ, is real
From the RoundTable blog
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Tim Heffron
Heffron lives in Roanoke.
It's amazing that the rantings of a lunatic can be passed off as good media. It's even more amazing that the lunatic making the rantings claims to be doing it for good or even noble causes. Such are the rantings of that well-known, or maybe not-so-well-known editorial page editor of The Roanoke Times, Dan Radmacher. Okay, so that was unfair, but your condemnation of Bill O'Reilly is of the same vein ("Christmas bullies manufactured this 'war on Christmas,'" Dec. 17).
No I do not agree that O'Reilly manufactured the war on Christmas. There is ample evidence of its existence, and your diatribe is just a small scuff on the surface.
The war is plainly evident when stores block their employees from wishing Merry Christmas rather than allow the smallest possibility that shoppers be reminded the meaning of this season.
The American holiday is not St. Nicholas or Santa Claus day; it's not the Kwanzaa season; it's not the Official Celebration of Winterfest; it is not the End of Year Shopping Extravaganza Sale Season! It is in fact the celebration of the birth of the savior of the world, Jesus Christ, true God and true man.
We celebrate the birth of the Messiah, the Emanuel, the promised one of God, the King of Kings! That is the meaning of the season. Only a bigot would decry the well-wishes of Christians who want to herald his coming and include all men and women in their joy at his birth and the fulfillment of the promise of God.
It is not insensitive to wish Merry Christmas any more than it is harmful and insensitive to wish someone a good day. It is wishing them happiness and a share in the joy of the season. Denying the right to say "Merry Christmas" is bigoted. I don't think it is harmful or insensitive if a Jewish person wishes me Happy Hanukkah, or a Muslim wishes happy Ramadan, or an atheist wishes me a good day. All are positive greetings and wishes.
The war on Christians has not ceased since the appearance of Christ at his birth, and so you should feel you are doing nothing worse than Herod or the Pharisees did in persecuting Christ and his church. But at the same time, that is not what humanity is called to, is it?
If you want to truly be progressive and open-minded, you should welcome the sharing of all cultures. In the great melting pot that America is supposed to be, it seems only radical liberals want to silence viewpoints. They claim openness, but their hypocrisy is astounding.
You may not feel called to visit a church this Christmastime, but you should feel welcome to do so if you like. Similarly, I would hope you would feel open to share your deeply held beliefs with anyone around you. Denying that to others is truly a shameful act, and I would hope you might change your tone regarding Christians who love their faith and want to share their joy.
Do not take it as an assault (though I know some zealous people do present it that way). Pope John Paul II used to say that "the Church proposes, it does not mandate." Faith to be true must be held in the heart. It is not something that can be forced upon someone the way communism is.
Love is a decision and a response to the love we received from God through creation and through human beings. It is not the irresponsible acceptance of perversions of the human condition. So your viewpoints should be open to be presented. However, in love it is not anyone's responsibility to accept your viewpoints as worthwhile or as good.
Discrimination is good, while prejudice is bad. It seems discriminating between good and bad is to liberals the gravest of sins. I guess for the godless it is the presentation and proof of truth and goodness which most infuriate them. I don't know their reasoning, but it seems the denial of all that is good and wholesome is the only road for those who deny God.
Anything else would point them inevitably toward God, who is the source of all goodness, and since they hate him because they can't be him, they can only choose to be his opposite.
Go figure.
