Governor
Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island refuses to call the beautifully
decorated spruce tree in the State Capitol a Christmas tree. Even though
it came from a Christmas tree farm, he chooses instead to call it a
holiday tree. My question of Chafee would be, “Which holiday is it? What
holiday has, as one of its traditional symbols, a lighted, brightly
decorated fir tree?” It would appear that in an effort not to offend a
scant 1 or 2 % of the population whose life’s mission it is to be
offended, he chooses rather to offend the other 80 to 90% of the
citizenry.
News
flash. Christmas is a Christian holiday. It is not a Jewish holiday. It
is not a Muslim holiday. It is not an atheist holiday. Christmas,
however, is observed all over the world in all countries with all
faiths. Some observe Christmas as a religious time. Others do not. How
one chooses to observe Christmas is their business. How you choose to
celebrate Christmas doesn’t alter what Christmas is however. Christmas
is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and no amount of
political correctness will change that.
Here
is what concerns me. The PC police seem to find this as a time to spew
their nonsense and try to interfere with the vast majority’s
celebration. School districts all over this country are issuing new
rules about what is proper and what is improper to say about this
holiday. It seems they don’t want to upset non-Christians by calling
this holiday by its proper name. Many retailers who use this season to
fatten up their bottom lines require of their employees all sorts of PC
greetings so as not to offend the atheists or the Muslims or even the
occasional Jew. If you choose to do business with such a retailer, that
is your choice. I will not. I met a Jewish lady once who was offended
when I said Merry Christmas to her. How sad. I suspect she was one of
the 2% whose life mission it is to be offended.
Here’s
something to think about. Christians make up as much as 80% of our
population. The total numbers of Muslims, Atheists, and Jews together
represent far less than 10% of our population. In this country they all
have the right to any religion they choose. I promise I will not try to
interfere with any celebration they might be involved with or be
offended by any greeting which might be construed as a religious
greeting. Muslims can have their month long fasting period of Ramadan
and dedicate five periods each day to prayer. That is certainly their
choice and their right. All I ask in return is they all be a bit more
tolerant of my religion and my religious holidays.
Finally,
it occurs to me that those who would deny God, to their dismay, will
discover soon enough their folly. You see, life is a terminal condition
for us all. In the meantime I would not want to be standing anywhere
near Lincoln Chafee during a thunderstorm.
Ron Scarbro December 4, 2011
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1 comment:
I try hard to not intentionally hurt anyone's feelings, however it is almost impossible not to anymore. I grant you there are obvious slurs that I would never consider using only because my own code won't allow me to, but whether people are getting too sensitive or it makes them feel like they can look down their noses at others, political correctness has gone way overboard to the point of absolute absurdity. It has become impossible not to offend someone. There are always people standing around telling you how offended you should be even if you're not. Wonder if we should start a campaign about how insulted we are because not everyone celebrates Christmas. Do you think we could make it politically incorrect to not celebrate Christmas, or I am insulted people in this country don't wear purple on Tuesday's. Think we could change that. From now on you must wear purple on Tuesdays, otherwise you have insulted those who believe.
Deena
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