It's An Annual Tradition - PCers Attacking Christmas

December 1, 2004

Here we go again. It's the annual Whiners Parade. Each year during this blessed time of year the fun blockers on the left come out in droves, trying to shield those who might be offended by the word “Christmas.” This year in Maplewood, New Jersey, some hypersensitive nitwits put a stop to the signing of Christmas carols in the schools' holiday music presentations because, they said, some people were feeling “left out” at the mention of Baby Jesus.

 

Maplewood parent Shelley Slafkes supports the new edict issued by the district's music director forbidding any religious music. “I support the ban on religious music in the schools,” she said, “because I feel that it makes children, who do not celebrate a particular holiday or have a particular religion, it makes them uncomfortable.” Oh, please. When we lived in Philadelphia, we lived in a Jewish neighborhood. The pre-school my boys attended featured Chanukah songs, which my kids sang. I certainly wasn't offended.

 

Ordinarily, parents take this kind of nonsense without much resistance. This time the parents aren't just sitting idly by. Some are fighting back by turning the tables on the liberals by using their own terminology and logic. One parent portrayed those who would ban religious music as being “intolerant,” one of the liberals' favorite words. Tom Reingold addressed the local school board. “To ban music a month before a scheduled concert is hostile to all who have been preparing and probably would be inspired and supportive to our students,” said Reingold. “To think you can remove all references to the sacred and still present an experience of beauty in this season is to be intolerant.” Exactly. Liberals preach tolerance but only of things they tolerate. Anything else, to them, is intolerable.

 

The school board, in a decisive act of bravery, will decide whether or not to reverse the music director's ban on religious music . . . in January.

 

So, why do so many liberals despise Christmas? One liberal website proclaims that “Christmas dramatically worsens income inequality.” It reasons, “Everyone may trade wealth at Christmas in the form of gifts, but the profits accrue to the few: namely, retail stores.” In other words, the evil rich get richer at the expense of the innocent, exploited poor. This makes “the rich richer and the poor poorer,” according to this web site.

 

Since most conflicts can be reduced to an economic equation, let's consider the ramifications if these Christmas-haters eventually succeed in killing Christmas. We spend, collectively, about $466 million each year on Christmas trees. We import around $971 million worth of Christmas tree ornaments annually. We spend about $34 billion each December at retail stores. What the liberals fail to realize is these “evil” retailers employ a bunch of people who would find themselves without a job were it not for Christmas. The Census Bureau estimates an additional 214,000 people are employed to handle the Christmas rush.

 

But the economy isn't the only thing to benefit from Christmas. People find themselves in a very giving mood around Christmastime. Charities like the Salvation Army count on Christmas for the bulk of their gifts. Without Christmas, the most desperate among us would suffer much more.

 

The next time a liberal tries to make you feel guilty about celebrating Christmas, remind them that it's more than just a celebration of the birth of Jesus. It's a time when Americans and much of the world come together. It's a time-honored tradition that brings out the best in us and helps countless numbers of people. Tell them if they find that offensive, just shut up and have a Merry Christmas.