Ron Paul and the War on Christmas

Before Bill O'Reilly and John Gibson were marketing the anti-Semitic anti-Communist anti-S-P/liberal War on Christmas meme (which still conveniently doubles as cover for anti-semitism), Ron Paul was leading the charge against the "collectivist left" in the halls of Congress.

As we celebrate another Yuletide season, it’s hard not to notice that Christmas in America simply doesn’t feel the same anymore. Although an overwhelming majority of Americans celebrate Christmas, and those who don’t celebrate it overwhelmingly accept and respect our nation’s Christmas traditions, a certain shared public sentiment slowly has disappeared. The Christmas spirit, marked by a wonderful feeling of goodwill among men, is in danger of being lost in the ongoing war against religion.

Through perverse court decisions and years of cultural indoctrination, the elitist, secular Left has managed to convince many in our nation that religion must be driven from public view. The justification is always that someone, somewhere, might possibly be offended or feel uncomfortable living in the midst of a largely Christian society, so all must yield to the fragile sensibilities of the few. The ultimate goal of the anti-religious elites is to transform America into a completely secular nation, a nation that is legally and culturally biased against Christianity.

This growing bias explains why many of our wonderful Christmas traditions have been lost. Christmas pageants and plays, including Handel’s Messiah, have been banned from schools and community halls. Nativity scenes have been ordered removed from town squares, and even criticized as offensive when placed on private church lawns. Office Christmas parties have become taboo, replaced by colorless seasonal parties to ensure no employees feel threatened by a “hostile environment.” Even wholly non-religious decorations featuring Santa Claus, snowmen, and the like have been called into question as Christmas symbols that might cause discomfort. Earlier this month, firemen near Chicago reluctantly removed Christmas decorations from their firehouse after a complaint by some embittered busybody. Most noticeably, however, the once commonplace refrain of “Merry Christmas” has been replaced by the vague, ubiquitous “Happy Holidays.” But what holiday? Is Christmas some kind of secret, a word that cannot be uttered in public? Why have we allowed the secularists to intimidate us into downplaying our most cherished and meaningful Christian celebration?

Paul goes on to state that rigid church/state separation has no basis in either the Constitution or the writings of the Founders (news that would be to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison) and that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are "both replete with references to God." Replete? That's an interesting word choice ... there is one reference in the Declaration to "Nature's God" and ZERO references in the Constitution.

Paul also holds the erroneous belief that the first amendment only prohibits the establishment of a national church, rather than serving the more comprehensive goal of guaranteeing freedom of religion as a fundamental natural right (remember "Nature's God", Congressman Paul?) that can not be infringed upon.

Consider this a teaser for an upcoming post later this week.