It’s obvious that Christianity is under attack, unless you have passed through the gates of the land of the Extreme Left, above which there is a sign saying, “Abandon all reason, ye who enter here.” I’ve done several posts on “worldly” Christian traditions like the Christmas tree that I believe Christians would do well to enjoy in their homes if they like, but stop calling for public recognition for because they are not part of the faith. But if we stop fighting for public recognition of the Christmas tree, where else could we better spend that time and energy? The Christian Law Association lists what’s legal and even encourages people to phone them to ask specific questions about celebrating Christmas in their school or community. Here are some ideas:
Nativity scenes. Far more pertinent to the faith than Christmas trees, nativity scenes are rarely seen in the public square these days. We should fight to bring them back.
Religious Christmas carols. ‘Nuff said.
The ACLU is trying to get crosses removed from city and county seals. Do we care about the seals in and of themselves? Not really, but this is an Orwellian effort to rewrite history so that Christian contributions to building this country are removed, and it should be stopped. We should fight to keep historic references to Christianity intact and untampered with.
A pastor in Sweden was convicted for preaching against homosexuality. The Supreme Court has been referencing other countries’ laws in their decisions, as in the infamous Lawrence v. Texas, the case that legalized sodomy and paved the way for gay marriage. His conviction was later overturned by the Swedish Supreme Court because the European Court for Human Rights would have probably overturned it anyway. It is not a stretch to imagine other countries’ hate speech laws being used to help decide an American free speech case. We should fight for legislation that reasserts our God-given and Constitutional right to free speech, and against “hate crime” legislation and activist courts which would suppress free speech.
The Salvation Army is under attack because it is a religious based charity. At the same time, the city of Boston is subsidizing a mosque that has ties to terrorism. We should fight for the Salvation Army and other religion-based charities to be treated fairly, while charities with ties to terror are shut down or at least hindered in every possible way.
Our college students are prevented and hindered from practicing and professing their faith at every turn, by speech codes that are unconstitutional – the college version of hate crime laws. One example was the ban on Resident Assistants to lead bible studies in the dormitories they live in. That ban has since been suspended because of the work of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). We should fight for the rights of our college students to express and practice their faith and support the organizations that support them.
The ACLU seeks to ban praying in the name of Jesus from prayers used to open or close legislative sessions or courts. We should fight for the continuing right to pray as we please, in the public square as much as in our private lives.
We should defend our faith, and there are plenty of things worth fighting for. Make sure you pick the right ones.
Get real. Conservative Christians don’t like to admit how often the ACLU takes their side, & you don’t hear any griping then.
The Puritans would have been mortified by the Christmas trees, Nativity displays, & most of the other stuff that right wing Christians think is so necessary to celebrating the Birth of Jesus Christ. Today’s Christians battle to put infant Jesus in the sled with Santa Claus would have put in the stocks, if not exiled to Rhode Island.
So let’s not forget why James Madison was so concerned by all this. Where the War Against Christmas ends, the War Between Christians begins.
I can’t think of the last time the ACLU did something I’d call beneficial. The ACLJ and FIRE are two organizations that do for the right what the ACLU does for the left. On the rare occasions the ACLU does something that benefits us, they more than offset that with their other activities.
My posts, It IS a Holiday Tree and More Christ, Less Christmas address the same issue you bring up; Christians have drifted away from biblical Christianity and are wasting time defending non-religious things in the “war against Christmas.” At least nativity scenes relate to the reason we call it Christmas, unlike most of the other traditions, so I included them as being worth defending.
I don’t desire a war between Christians, but where I see people zealously defending non-religious traditions as part of a Christian Christmas celebration, I feel called to point it out. I’m not saying people can’t do those things; by all means have a Christmas tree if they want one, they should just stop acting like it’s part of the faith or that defending it is some holy cause. Just because Bill O’Reilly says so, doesn’t make it so.