As Arrogant as He May Be, Bill O'Reilly is Right Regarding the Culture War

The War on Christmas

By Lindsey Russell, published Dec 05, 2006
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First off, I want to clarify a couple of things:

1. I agree with Bill O'Reilly's statements regarding the culture wars and the war on Christmas.

2. Even though I agree with SOME of his points of view, I think Bill O'Reilly is incredibly arrogant.

3. I am a Christian.

4. I believe that everyone in the United States has the right to express his or her own religion. We should not be a homogeneous country made up entirely of Christians.

5. No religion should receive preferential treatment in the public sphere. 6. Christmas, and Christians in general, have taken a beating in recent years.

Now that that's out of the way, I will define the problem. I believe that there has been a concerted effort to thwart the public display of the Christian religion in recent years. It is no longer politically correct to say "Merry Christmas" or to display a nativity scene in front of city hall. Secular progressives who wish to completely get rid of any public displays of religion whatsoever, especially the Christian religion, have led this effort. This Christmas season, I've noticed a couple of trends.

1. There has been a backlash against the politically correct "Happy Holidays." Recently Wal-Mart announced that their greeters and cashiers will no longer say "Happy Holidays," but will now say "Merry Christmas." Personally, I think people have had enough of the generic, meaningless "Happy Holidays." Let's be honest, this country is still predominately Christian. That doesn't mean that people who practice other religions or belief systems feel excluded. It simply means that ALL Americans should be free to express their religious beliefs in the public sphere. Separation of Church and State should not mean a complete ban on all public displays of religion.

 
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I agree with Bill O'Reilly's statements regarding the culture wars and the war on Christmas...

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You and Bill O'Liarly have the right to your own opinions but not your own facts. Bill makes up "facts" all the time and uses them to support his specious arguments that have little relation to reality. Your church may consider that it is not a sin to buy into lies rather than originating them; but being a responsible adult means you should check facts on your own. If Billy Boy is ever right it is an accident. And if he is a Christian then I am a car, because I go to a garage every day.

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Posted on 03/25/2008 at 5:03:09 PM

 
Spider Lady say she celebrate all Holidays... I don't think there is a War on Christmas. I think that many beople feal threatened and yell very loud when they are in fear. What to they fear? They fear that they mayhave to challenge their own beleifs. I do think there should be a seperation of church and state, and I think everyone should be free to celebrate the God of their understanding...wasn't that the whole idea out founding father had?

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Posted on 12/16/2007 at 2:12:46 PM

 
There is no "War on Christmas." The fact that O'Reilly thinks there is one shows a complete lack of perspective on his part. For the Christians in the room, would you be okay with a town having a festivus pole or a menorah in the city square, but no nativity scene? Or would that be more "War on Christmas and Christians"? Why is "Happy Holidays" SO awful? Why is NOT showing Christ and Mary and Joseph in the city square so terrible? Oh, and before you get all girded up to accuse me of hating religion and America and wanting the terrorists to win, let me just say: I'm a Christian too.

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Posted on 12/18/2006 at 2:12:00 PM

 
Lindsey, I mostly agree with you. The "include everything" rule in public displays is something supported by ample Supreme Court precedent. I really don't understand the selective exclusion of Christmas symbols. Perhaps it's because Christians are 80 percent of the American population and therefore a huge target for secularists, and bashing minority religions would be blantantly bigoted and illegal. That being said, I also agree with the view of Ellis Hennican, a NY Newsday columnist, that saying "Happy Holidays" when you don't know a person's religion is fine as well. But let's keep things in perspective, there is no "war on Christmas" when you compare it to what's going on in the Middle East. If we can't settle the Christmas issue, how on earth are we going to deal with Iraq?

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Posted on 12/09/2006 at 9:12:00 AM

 
AMEN. Regardless of what Bill O Reilly says, there is definitely something very anti-Christian going on here. The other day I heard about a woman in TN whose son was not allowed to play his Christian CD at school, even though the teacher had initially told each student to bring in a cd of their choice as a reward for good behaviour. Erin: we still celebrate Christmas as a federal holiday because people wouldn't stand for losing it. That holiday was enacted a long time ago. The problem isnt just about religion, its about censorship. Which affects us all.

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Posted on 12/08/2006 at 5:12:00 PM

 
Well walmart could be like Jeff Dunham and Walter...Welcome to Walmart now get your .... and get out. I just had to be goofey and break the tension. Honestly, I agree with Lindsey. If the interests is there, then people should be able to display a representation of their religion.

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Posted on 12/07/2006 at 9:12:00 PM

 
I think the common sense answer is this... Government entities show no preference to any religion at all. It's that simple. There should never be a nativity scene in front of City Hall! That is simply ridiculous! Saying "Holiday Tree" IS appropriate. The funny thing is this; the people who get offended are religious people. What of Athiests? I see lots of Christians who think Athiests don't have rights at all, just because they don't want their shared government laced with religion simply because the religious are the majority. Celebrate whatever you want - but since when should religion be a public thing, anyway? We don't live in Puritanical Colonial times anymore. Oh wait - yes we do. We just pretend that we don't...

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Posted on 12/07/2006 at 9:12:00 PM

 
Christopher Ray does have a point... It is not a coincidence that Christmas falls near the Winter Solstace and Easter is near the Spring Equinox. It was an attempt by the church to stamp out pagan traditions. The evergreen was used by pagans as a symbol of renewal upon Winter. Easter is almost totally pagan. Even the name Easter is derived from the name of a goddess, who's symbol was a rabbit. Can you guess what type of goddess? It's hilarious that every year millions of Americans paint eggs to make them look pretty, hide them and hope to find one... It was an ancient fertility rite. Instead of these traditions going away, which was intended, they got mixed in the Christian beliefs.

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Posted on 12/07/2006 at 3:12:00 PM

 
O'Reilly is rarely right about anything and that includes the "War on Christmas". He cherry-picks isolated incidents scattered around the country to illustrate his non-existent "war" and then blows them out of proportion. He conveniently ignores all the Christmas displays that no one complains about, also scattered all over the country. Using his methodology, I could "prove" that there is a concerted and organized "War Against White Guys With Long Hair".

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Posted on 12/07/2006 at 1:12:00 PM

 
"Happy Holidays" means "Happy Holy Days" - what's wrong with that? Corporate America wants your money, and they'll greet you with anything if they know it will get you to spend that money in their store. Bill O'Reilly is just trying to stir up controversy and anti-liberal sentiment by painting Christians as victims. There are plenty of churches that display nativity scenes and hold services. You can put anything you want in your front yard. You can wear a cross around your neck... You have every right to express your religion in a personal manner and worship in a holy place. Freedom of religion also means freedom from religion in the public arena. Demanding that public venues acknowledge Christ, especially a department store where you're only buying material things you could live without is a bit hypocritical.

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Posted on 12/07/2006 at 10:12:00 AM

 
Thanks Erin! That was all this article was meant to do, get a discussion going. There are valid points on both sides. I just want to see all religions being allowed to be expressed in the public sphere (while I have a strong belief in God and consider myself Christian, I don't believe in organized religion).

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Posted on 12/07/2006 at 7:12:00 AM

 
I wish you a Happy Feast of Sol Invictus, the pagan sun-god whose feast-day was usurped by the Catholic Church for their own purposes. And as for Easter, happy spring equinox, another pagan day that your fathers stole from pagans during Christianity's violent conquest of northwestern Europe.

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Posted on 12/06/2006 at 11:12:00 PM

 
I love the Holiday Season. Why is wanting everyone to feel included considered a war on Christianity? (sorry, my last comment got cut off) Like I said, I liked your writing Lindsay, and good job at starting the discussion. Discussion is good!

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Posted on 12/06/2006 at 8:12:00 PM

 
This was a well written article and Lindsey, I respect your point of view, but please allow me a moment to respectfully disagree. If there really is a war on Christmas by the government, why is Christmas the only religious holiday hat is Federally recognized? It's the only religious holiday they make sure nearly everyone has off. If a Jewish person wants to take time off for Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur they have to request special permisssion or take vacation days. Also, I don't believe "Happy Holidays" is a put down to "Merry Christmas" or Christians. I think it's a way to try and make sure everyone, not just Christians are included in the sentiment of wishing someone well at this time of year. Don't forget, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa take place during the winter season. It also includes New Years' and Thanksgiving. The only people I hear making a fuss about what is said during the Holidays are Christians who feel that the only holiday worth recognizing at all is theirs. I love the

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Posted on 12/06/2006 at 8:12:00 PM

 
ACTUALLY Jeff, the Myth of Horus was 3600 BC... not 1000 years. The myth of Mithras is another common god-man myth popular at the time of Jesus.

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Posted on 12/06/2006 at 8:12:00 PM

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