WASHINGTON — For the ninth year in a row, the Liberty Counsel, a pro-life, pro-family litigation group based in Florida and Washington, is releasing its annual “Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign.”
“We’ve seen a major shift in the last several years, and now the ‘Nice’ side outnumbers the ‘Naughty’ side,” said Matthew Staver, Liberty Counsel’s founder and chairman.
As Staver added, “Polls year after year show 70% of the people prefer being wished ‘Merry Christmas’ than ‘Happy Holidays.’”
Customers should let retailers know why or why not they’re shopping too, Staver said: “We recommend you not just patronize or not patronize those stores, but tell the stores why you’re shopping or not shopping. When you’re in a store that’s ‘Nice,’ compliment them. If you don’t go to a store on the ‘Naughty’ side, send them an email, call them and tell them why you’re not shopping in their store in December.”
Liberty Counsel also works to support Nativity scenes on public property and against censorship of religious words from carols in public schools.
This year the evergreen’s role is at stake. Rhode Island’s Gov. Lincoln Chafee has decided the Christmas tree in the State House cannot be called a “Christmas tree” but must be called a “holiday tree.” According to press releases, John Leyden, who owns Big John Leyden Christmas Trees and yearly donates the tree for the State House, said he may take it back because it’s not a holiday tree.
Liberty Counsel said the governor is even ignoring a resolution passed recently by the state Legislature that states trees during this season should be called “Christmas trees.”
Said Staver: “Anyone knows the green, pointed, prickly thing we decorate in December is called a Christmas tree. A Christmas tree celebrates only one holiday. It’s called Christmas. Everyone knows a Christmas tree is used to celebrate Christmas, not Hanukkah, not New Year’s.”
Staver added that Gov. Chafee ought to “wake up and exercise common sense. By trying not to offend people he’s offended the vast majority of people, and he has made his action look absurd.” He called on the governor to immediately reverse his decision, do the right thing, and call the tree by its correct name. In the meantime, Staver urged citizens to call the governor’s office and ask Chafee to reverse his decision.
Similarly, Providence’s Bishop Thomas Tobin released a statement. “Governor Chafee’s decision to avoid the word ‘Christmas’ at the State House ceremony is most disheartening and divisive,” Bishop Tobin stated. “It is sad that such a secular spirit has swept over our state. The governor’s decision ignores long-held American traditions and is an affront to the faith of many citizens. For the sake of peace and harmony in our state at this special time of the year, I respectfully encourage the governor to reconsider his decision to use the word ‘Christmas’ in the state observance.”
As an answer to the tree lighting, on Dec. 6, Bishop Tobin led a prayer service and Christmas tree lighting on the lawn of the nearby St. Patrick Church.
Joseph Pronechen is based in Trumbull, Connecticut.
Comments
Post a Comment
Christians make a bigger deal out of this than agnostics/atheists. I know many agnostics and atheists, and they are very quiet about this type of thing, and are not offended by “Merry Christmas”. They will wish someone else a Merry Christmas right back.
From what I’ve seen, it’s the Christians themselves which blow this out of proportion. They make a big deal out of it where it doesn’t need to be one. Not everyone in this country is Christian, in fact the original Americans ( the natives ) as far as I know are not Christian. We have many different people with different religons or no religon at all. Nobody is asking you to stop observing the holidays, so please, enjoy!
Not sure why it was called a Holiday Tree, when everyone knows it’s a Christmas tree. To me, it’s a tree that was living, cut & killed, brought inside, stuck in a pan of water and endured gawdy junk put all over it. If that’s your thing, that’s fine, but it’s a pagan tradition and doesn’t have really have anything to do with Jesus in my opinion.
Post a Comment
By submitting this form, you give The National Catholic Register permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.