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== History == |
== History == |
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{{POV}} <!-- This article has many sections which are POV...such as "Perhaps because their advocates are themselves pro-business, the anti-conspiracy movements have focused less on commercialization and more on de-Christianization." which clearly shows the authors POV. Note: I do not mean the section about Henry Fords views. I found them interesting --> |
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The idea of an organized [[conspiracy]] against Christmas appears regularly in American politics. [[Henry Ford]]'s [[1921]] polemic "The International Jew" detailed efforts by Jewish groups to remove Christian practices and teachings from the public sphere. "Jews agitate in many cities against Bible reading," Ford wrote. "Christmas celebrations or carols in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, St. Paul and New York met with strong Jewish opposition." In [[1959]], the newly formed [[John Birch Society]] campaigned against one-world government forces it claimed wanted to replace Christmas with a "celebration of the brotherhood of man" under the aegis of the [[United Nations]], for which department store Christmas Trees and windows would be decorated with U.N. symbols. In the recent movement, Gibson has identified "liberals," "secular progressives," the [[ACLU]], the [[Anti-Defamation League]], and [[Americans for the Separation of Church and State]] as the forces behind the attack, while O'Reilly has focused more narrowly on the ACLU and billionaire financier [[George Soros]]. |
The idea of an organized [[conspiracy]] against Christmas appears regularly in American politics. [[Henry Ford]]'s [[1921]] polemic "The International Jew" detailed efforts by Jewish groups to remove Christian practices and teachings from the public sphere. "Jews agitate in many cities against Bible reading," Ford wrote. "Christmas celebrations or carols in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, St. Paul and New York met with strong Jewish opposition." In [[1959]], the newly formed [[John Birch Society]] campaigned against one-world government forces it claimed wanted to replace Christmas with a "celebration of the brotherhood of man" under the aegis of the [[United Nations]], for which department store Christmas Trees and windows would be decorated with U.N. symbols. In the recent movement, Gibson has identified "liberals," "secular progressives," the [[ACLU]], the [[Anti-Defamation League]], and [[Americans for the Separation of Church and State]] as the forces behind the attack, while O'Reilly has focused more narrowly on the ACLU and billionaire financier [[George Soros]]. |
Revision as of 17:38, 4 December 2005
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Union_Square_Christmas_cropped.jpg/300px-Union_Square_Christmas_cropped.jpg)
The War on Christmas is a term used by some American reporters, most prominently John Gibson and Bill O'Reilly, to describe the removal of religious slogans such as "Merry Christmas" from the public forum (to be replaced by more generic terms, such as "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings"). The commentators claim that opinion on the topic is usually divided between the conservatives and liberals.
Claims
Many cite the war on Christmas as part of the larger culture war; pointing out the removal of any mention of Christmas from public schools, and pressure put on cities and towns to remove religious desplays like the nativity scene by organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union.
Criticism
The claim that viewpoints on the topic are divided between the liberals and conservatives is not supported by recent opinion polls. A Fox News / Opinion Dynamics poll for Nov 29–30, 2005 found that only 42% of respondents believe that "there is a War on Christmas in the US today," with 48% in disagreement.
Some of the idea's challengers also claim that the War on Christmas is a conservative distraction to shift attention from the war in Iraq, and President Bush's sliding poll numbers, even though he hasn't personally talked about it.
History
The idea of an organized conspiracy against Christmas appears regularly in American politics. Henry Ford's 1921 polemic "The International Jew" detailed efforts by Jewish groups to remove Christian practices and teachings from the public sphere. "Jews agitate in many cities against Bible reading," Ford wrote. "Christmas celebrations or carols in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, St. Paul and New York met with strong Jewish opposition." In 1959, the newly formed John Birch Society campaigned against one-world government forces it claimed wanted to replace Christmas with a "celebration of the brotherhood of man" under the aegis of the United Nations, for which department store Christmas Trees and windows would be decorated with U.N. symbols. In the recent movement, Gibson has identified "liberals," "secular progressives," the ACLU, the Anti-Defamation League, and Americans for the Separation of Church and State as the forces behind the attack, while O'Reilly has focused more narrowly on the ACLU and billionaire financier George Soros.
A parallel movement to counteract the commercialization and secularization of Christmas has continued more quietly and steadily over the years. The Knights of Columbus sponsor a long-running "Keep Christ in Christmas" campaign that advocates religious displays, carol singing and charitable activities as the most meaningful way to celebrate the season.
Perhaps because their advocates are themselves pro-business, the anti-conspiracy movements have focused less on commercialization and more on de-Christianization. O'Reilly in particular has framed his argument in terms of the business interests of stores he has targeted. "Every company in America should be on their knees thanking Jesus for being born. Without Christmas, most American businesses would be far less profitable," O'Reilly said on a Fox news program. "More than enough reason for business to be screaming "Merry Christmas."
Some Stores Involved in the Debate
- Circuit City: The word "Christmas" is used in advertising.
- Macy's: Allows employees to greet customers as they please, and has signs for Christmas, Hanukkah, and other winter holidays. Also, on November 30, 2005, Macy's released a statement in which noted that they would further endorse Christmas in the 2006 season.
- Mervyns: Has few signs referencing anything for "the holidays," and uses generic terms in advertisements and on store hour cards.
- Sears: Does not have any religious signs.
- Target: Does not have any religious signs (including Christmas), and doesn't allow the Salvation Army to raise money outside their stores.
- Wal-Mart: Does not have any religion-specific signs, instead opting to go with "Happy Holidays," which it feels is more inclusive and encompasses such celebrations as Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Eve, as well as Christmas.
- They also breifly defended an employee who wrote an e-mail to one of their customers "on the origins of Christmas" before repealing their statement after pressure was put on them by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights[1].
Organizations
- American Civil Liberties Union
- Americans United for Separation of Church and State
- Center for Reclaiming America, led by D. James Kennedy and Gary Cass.
- Committee to Save Merry Christmas, led by Maneul Zamorano
- Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign, hosted by Liberty Counsel