Tuesday Heights
21-12-2004, 07:17
LancasterOnline.com
Generic greeting doesn’t leave Christians feeling merry
By Helen Colwell Adams
Sunday News
Published: Dec 18, 2004 10:49 PM EST
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - Wish Peggie Miller a happy holiday, and she’ll gently correct you.
“It’s ‘Merry Christmas,’” she’ll say.
The Lancaster Township woman is distressed at the growing tendency of store clerks and acquaintances to refer to the generic holiday season instead of the religious holiday at its heart.
She’s not offended by people who don’t observe Christmas – marking the birth of Jesus Christ – but she feels “there is a subtle pressure ... to get Christ out of everything.”
Other Christians are upset too.
While in this county the “Happy Holidays” trend is more confined to businesses trying not to antagonize non-Christian customers, around the nation, schools and communities are backing off Christmas celebrations for fear of triggering church/state lawsuits.
Battles over creches on public property have been fought for years, but the issue has heated up recently. Some suggest that the higher profile of evangelicals that resulted from the presidential campaign has encouraged them to speak out about the secularization of Christmas. Christians contend that instead of simply using a generic theme, increasingly, any public mention of Christmas is being forbidden while other religious holidays are marked.
Attorney Leonard Brown III of the Lancaster-based Clymer & Musser law firm pointed out that a recent poll showed 96 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas, but the objections of a few have resulted in public officials playing Grinch about Christmas music in school concerts and churches in holiday parades.
In the church, opinions are mixed on how Christians should respond to a generic “holiday season” muscling Christmas off the stage.
Some ministry leaders, including Keith Yoder of Teaching the Word Ministries in Leola, say Christians may need at times to take a stand to protect their legal rights in the public square.
But Pastor Vincent Whitman of Crossroads Mennonite Church in Lancaster wonders if that’s the church’s job. “We can’t really make the world Christian,” he said. “Our calling is to be a witness and to be a light. If any of that spills out (into the world) ... it’s all a blessing.” “Why get upset with our culture?” asked Pastor Dave Witmer of HopeNet Fellowship of Churches. “Our toys won’t last, but Jesus will.”
In Illinois, a suburban Chicago school district recently put on a holiday program that referred to Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Santa Claus but never mentioned Christmas. The Alliance Defense Fund warned the school not to discriminate against Christians.
Another Illinois district banned school bus drivers from playing Christmas music. In Denver, a private group barred a church from entering a religious-themed float in the annual holiday parade.
The Rutherford Institute, a religious civil liberties group, issued “The Twelve Rules of Christmas” to clarify what the law says about free speech and the free exercise of faith.
Closer to home, Clymer & Musser, a firm noted for its religious liberties cases, recently sent a letter to 433 school districts in Pennsylvania outlining religious rights in connection with Christmas.
“In recent years, secular groups have spread misconceptions about the legalities of Christmas celebration within public schools,” attorney Brown’s letter says. “As a result, many school officials have removed nearly all references to Christ from Christmas and have begun a new ‘tradition’ of violating the constitutional rights of students and teachers to seasonal religious expression within public schools.
“... Some school officials have gone so far as to prohibit the common greeting ‘Merry Christmas’ and, instead, insist that teachers and students merely say ‘Happy Holidays’ and refer to the Christmas break as ‘Winter Break’ or ‘Sparkle Season.’
“... No court has ever ruled that the Constitution demands school officials to censor Christmas carols, eliminate all references to Christmas or silence those who celebrate Christmas.”
The letter says that under law and court precedent, Christmas carols may be sung in school programs, schools may term the December break a “Christmas vacation,” study of the religious origins of the holiday is permitted and students are allowed to wish others “Merry Christmas.” So far, he said, all the nationwide cases in which discrimination was alleged have been resolved through attorneys communicating with the schools or government agencies. There haven’t been any complaints locally. “My belief is that schools and governmental agencies have been scared into dropping Christmas, despite the fact that 96 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas,” Brown said.
The backlash against secularization comes in part because of the growing role of organizations like the Alliance Defense Fund, with which Clymer & Musser is affiliated, to counter the influence of liberal advocacy groups.
But it’s also a rising tide of frustration in the pews with what some Christians, especially conservatives and evangelicals, see as the marginalization of the Christian faith.
They feel insulted when Newsweek, in its pre-Christmas issue, runs a cover story quoting liberal and out-of-the-mainstream theologians almost exclusively to buttress the contention that the biblical story of the virgin birth didn’t happen the way it’s written in Matthew and Luke.
And they are offended when Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and the Muslim holiday of Eid are permitted to be mentioned in school, but the religious elements of Christmas are not.
“In the Western world we are engaged in a cultural war,” said Yoder of Teaching the Word, who is also chairman of The Regional Church of Lancaster County, a church network. “From one perspective the battles are being fought over public display or mention of Christian concepts. A new word has recently been formed – Christianaphobia. There is an increasing evidence of fear and/or hatred of things Christian or persons who identify as Christian.”
His ministry is planning to “equip believers in the church to prepare to stand” in the face of persecution and criticism, including a leadership summit March 13-15.
“In some cases it is good to participate in legal efforts to protect First Amendment rights,” he said. “We also need to know how to stand with Christ-like attitudes in the public arena, whether our liberties are being protected or not.”
“How should Christians respond?” Brown asked. “With grace and humility, but also with courage to not conform to scare tactics by the ACLU and other groups.
“... People always advocate some point of view, and the public marketplace of ideas should allow the views of Christian to be expressed as well.”
Whitman, the Crossroads Mennonite pastor, said from a biblical perspective, fighting the world may not be the right approach.
“We’re to take care of things happening inside the church,” he said. “... Judgment must start at the hand of God first.” “I expect that our culture will become exhausted with more and more commercialization of the holidays,” said pastor Witmer.
“People want mystery; they hunger for trains to the North Pole, for a glimpse of angels among us. Those who follow Christ simply need to continue faithfully offering the greatest mystery of all – the visitation to our little blue planet by God’s son.”
Peggie Miller is still on a mission to keep Christmas the focus of the season. “To other people, it’s Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus, holly and mistletoe. That’s all part of it for me – but it’s on an outer limb.”
So when store clerks tell her to have a happy holiday, she responds, “It’s Merry Christmas to me. It’s about the birth of Jesus Christ.”
MY RESPONSE:
So, what d'you all think?
This is how I responded in my Xanga:
"I was very disturbed by this article. How dare they tell the woman in question, "Happy Holidays," the salesperson should've had telekinetic powers to tell she celebrated Christmas and then wished her a "merry" one. What a f*cking whore."
Now, we all know if someone say Happy Hannukah to this woman in the story, she would've flipped out, too... so, it's d*mned if you do, d*mned if you don't, IMHO.
Generic greeting doesn’t leave Christians feeling merry
By Helen Colwell Adams
Sunday News
Published: Dec 18, 2004 10:49 PM EST
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - Wish Peggie Miller a happy holiday, and she’ll gently correct you.
“It’s ‘Merry Christmas,’” she’ll say.
The Lancaster Township woman is distressed at the growing tendency of store clerks and acquaintances to refer to the generic holiday season instead of the religious holiday at its heart.
She’s not offended by people who don’t observe Christmas – marking the birth of Jesus Christ – but she feels “there is a subtle pressure ... to get Christ out of everything.”
Other Christians are upset too.
While in this county the “Happy Holidays” trend is more confined to businesses trying not to antagonize non-Christian customers, around the nation, schools and communities are backing off Christmas celebrations for fear of triggering church/state lawsuits.
Battles over creches on public property have been fought for years, but the issue has heated up recently. Some suggest that the higher profile of evangelicals that resulted from the presidential campaign has encouraged them to speak out about the secularization of Christmas. Christians contend that instead of simply using a generic theme, increasingly, any public mention of Christmas is being forbidden while other religious holidays are marked.
Attorney Leonard Brown III of the Lancaster-based Clymer & Musser law firm pointed out that a recent poll showed 96 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas, but the objections of a few have resulted in public officials playing Grinch about Christmas music in school concerts and churches in holiday parades.
In the church, opinions are mixed on how Christians should respond to a generic “holiday season” muscling Christmas off the stage.
Some ministry leaders, including Keith Yoder of Teaching the Word Ministries in Leola, say Christians may need at times to take a stand to protect their legal rights in the public square.
But Pastor Vincent Whitman of Crossroads Mennonite Church in Lancaster wonders if that’s the church’s job. “We can’t really make the world Christian,” he said. “Our calling is to be a witness and to be a light. If any of that spills out (into the world) ... it’s all a blessing.” “Why get upset with our culture?” asked Pastor Dave Witmer of HopeNet Fellowship of Churches. “Our toys won’t last, but Jesus will.”
In Illinois, a suburban Chicago school district recently put on a holiday program that referred to Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Santa Claus but never mentioned Christmas. The Alliance Defense Fund warned the school not to discriminate against Christians.
Another Illinois district banned school bus drivers from playing Christmas music. In Denver, a private group barred a church from entering a religious-themed float in the annual holiday parade.
The Rutherford Institute, a religious civil liberties group, issued “The Twelve Rules of Christmas” to clarify what the law says about free speech and the free exercise of faith.
Closer to home, Clymer & Musser, a firm noted for its religious liberties cases, recently sent a letter to 433 school districts in Pennsylvania outlining religious rights in connection with Christmas.
“In recent years, secular groups have spread misconceptions about the legalities of Christmas celebration within public schools,” attorney Brown’s letter says. “As a result, many school officials have removed nearly all references to Christ from Christmas and have begun a new ‘tradition’ of violating the constitutional rights of students and teachers to seasonal religious expression within public schools.
“... Some school officials have gone so far as to prohibit the common greeting ‘Merry Christmas’ and, instead, insist that teachers and students merely say ‘Happy Holidays’ and refer to the Christmas break as ‘Winter Break’ or ‘Sparkle Season.’
“... No court has ever ruled that the Constitution demands school officials to censor Christmas carols, eliminate all references to Christmas or silence those who celebrate Christmas.”
The letter says that under law and court precedent, Christmas carols may be sung in school programs, schools may term the December break a “Christmas vacation,” study of the religious origins of the holiday is permitted and students are allowed to wish others “Merry Christmas.” So far, he said, all the nationwide cases in which discrimination was alleged have been resolved through attorneys communicating with the schools or government agencies. There haven’t been any complaints locally. “My belief is that schools and governmental agencies have been scared into dropping Christmas, despite the fact that 96 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas,” Brown said.
The backlash against secularization comes in part because of the growing role of organizations like the Alliance Defense Fund, with which Clymer & Musser is affiliated, to counter the influence of liberal advocacy groups.
But it’s also a rising tide of frustration in the pews with what some Christians, especially conservatives and evangelicals, see as the marginalization of the Christian faith.
They feel insulted when Newsweek, in its pre-Christmas issue, runs a cover story quoting liberal and out-of-the-mainstream theologians almost exclusively to buttress the contention that the biblical story of the virgin birth didn’t happen the way it’s written in Matthew and Luke.
And they are offended when Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and the Muslim holiday of Eid are permitted to be mentioned in school, but the religious elements of Christmas are not.
“In the Western world we are engaged in a cultural war,” said Yoder of Teaching the Word, who is also chairman of The Regional Church of Lancaster County, a church network. “From one perspective the battles are being fought over public display or mention of Christian concepts. A new word has recently been formed – Christianaphobia. There is an increasing evidence of fear and/or hatred of things Christian or persons who identify as Christian.”
His ministry is planning to “equip believers in the church to prepare to stand” in the face of persecution and criticism, including a leadership summit March 13-15.
“In some cases it is good to participate in legal efforts to protect First Amendment rights,” he said. “We also need to know how to stand with Christ-like attitudes in the public arena, whether our liberties are being protected or not.”
“How should Christians respond?” Brown asked. “With grace and humility, but also with courage to not conform to scare tactics by the ACLU and other groups.
“... People always advocate some point of view, and the public marketplace of ideas should allow the views of Christian to be expressed as well.”
Whitman, the Crossroads Mennonite pastor, said from a biblical perspective, fighting the world may not be the right approach.
“We’re to take care of things happening inside the church,” he said. “... Judgment must start at the hand of God first.” “I expect that our culture will become exhausted with more and more commercialization of the holidays,” said pastor Witmer.
“People want mystery; they hunger for trains to the North Pole, for a glimpse of angels among us. Those who follow Christ simply need to continue faithfully offering the greatest mystery of all – the visitation to our little blue planet by God’s son.”
Peggie Miller is still on a mission to keep Christmas the focus of the season. “To other people, it’s Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus, holly and mistletoe. That’s all part of it for me – but it’s on an outer limb.”
So when store clerks tell her to have a happy holiday, she responds, “It’s Merry Christmas to me. It’s about the birth of Jesus Christ.”
MY RESPONSE:
So, what d'you all think?
This is how I responded in my Xanga:
"I was very disturbed by this article. How dare they tell the woman in question, "Happy Holidays," the salesperson should've had telekinetic powers to tell she celebrated Christmas and then wished her a "merry" one. What a f*cking whore."
Now, we all know if someone say Happy Hannukah to this woman in the story, she would've flipped out, too... so, it's d*mned if you do, d*mned if you don't, IMHO.