Fighting Back Against The Grinch

Betsy Newmark links to this Washington Post article on using the courts to fight back against the disappearance of The Holiday That Dare Not Be Named Christmas. On the whole, it’s pretty good and surprisingly balanced, but it seems like its author can’t figure out how to end it. (Gee, that never happens to me!)

So it ends sort of unconsciously parodying itself:

Barry Lynn, executive director of the advocacy group Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the “new strategy of the Christian Right is forced inclusion — they take a secular display and demand that Christian symbols and carols be added.”

Christian talk radio, Lynn said, is fueling a “huge movement saying there is a war against Christmas both by the government and by private business, which I think is nonsensical, because unless you live in a cave in America in December, you know it’s Christmas.”

So the executive director of an organization named Americans United for Separation of Church and State feels that it’s “nonsensical” for Christians to feel that there is a “huge movement saying there is a war against Christmas”. Despite the fact that he’s the head of an organization that’s named…Americans United for Separation of Church and State!

And the last paragraph is a classic:

But Anthony R. Picarello Jr., a lawyer with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which works for greater freedom of religious expression, said it is not easy to say which side is truly the aggressor. “If these Christmas pageants and displays have been done for a long time and now there’s a push to exclude them, then it appears to be aggression from the left. If they haven’t been done and someone’s suing to add them, then it appears to be aggression from the right.”

Wow, there’s some decisive logic there: maybe it’s aggression from the right. Maybe it’s aggression from the left. Who knows! Way to dig deep, Washington Post.

Incidentally, despite linking to articles like this, I’m not that religious a person myself. But it’s been interesting to watch the symbols and words associated with Christmas increasingly being forced under the radar in the past 10 to 15 years, despite what Mr. Lynn claims. Even though at least 90 percent of the country both celebrates Christmas and, not surprisingly, isn’t in the least offended by it. Of course, as Peggy Noonan notes, there’s a tremendous opportunity just waiting for the left if they’re willing to denounce this trend.