Saving Christianity from… the Christians?
Republican Representative Steve King of Iowa recently introduced HR 847, a bill “recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith.”
That’s it. No action, no progression, no nothing, just a declaration that Christmas Is Important. No work on, say, dismantling the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, no finding a solution to global warming, nothing like that. What a tempest in a teapot.
Now, I’m all for Christmas; I believe it’s important to remember the hope of the birth of Christ. I despise the commercialism of the day and would love a return to a day spent with family and going to church. I scoff at advertisers who insist that their clerks and signs declare, “Happy Holidays.” If a store is selling Christmas ornaments and piping in Christmas music, the clerks should be allowed to tell the clients to have a good Christmas. I’m all for calling something what it is.
That is why I have to call King’s bill a waste of time and money. Are Representative King and the others who put their name on this bill performing their duty of representing their constituents? Are those constituents truly concerned about whether the importance of Christmas is formally recognized by the government?
The real war on Christianity here is the war on the poor, the downtrodden, the other. Representative King, Christmas will be fine – it was here long before you and will continue long after we all are gone. I think it is you who is forgetting the “reason for the season.”
That’s it. No action, no progression, no nothing, just a declaration that Christmas Is Important. No work on, say, dismantling the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, no finding a solution to global warming, nothing like that. What a tempest in a teapot.
Now, I’m all for Christmas; I believe it’s important to remember the hope of the birth of Christ. I despise the commercialism of the day and would love a return to a day spent with family and going to church. I scoff at advertisers who insist that their clerks and signs declare, “Happy Holidays.” If a store is selling Christmas ornaments and piping in Christmas music, the clerks should be allowed to tell the clients to have a good Christmas. I’m all for calling something what it is.
That is why I have to call King’s bill a waste of time and money. Are Representative King and the others who put their name on this bill performing their duty of representing their constituents? Are those constituents truly concerned about whether the importance of Christmas is formally recognized by the government?
The real war on Christianity here is the war on the poor, the downtrodden, the other. Representative King, Christmas will be fine – it was here long before you and will continue long after we all are gone. I think it is you who is forgetting the “reason for the season.”
I can't imagine something more inherently antithetical to the spirit of Christianity than an official governmental stamp of approval. Don't these people read their Bibles? Or are they simply pandering to their voting blocs?
It takes the all the fun out of rhetorical questions when the answers are so freakin' obvious. (Comment this)
Not that I would mind that. I think it's definitely time for checks and balances to come back into play. But that's another rant for another day.
Tom -- Exactly. Jesus didn't need governmental approval. As Michael Brown pointed out in the text we read for class, "God is a big boy; He can handle it." (Comment this)
AMEN (Comment this)
It doesn't create a theocracy, but the fact that anyone in my government would support such legislation makes me nervous (among other things). The struck theological statements really take the cake, but I'm familiar with the attempts of conservative Christians to try to (re)define the beliefs of others who self-identify as Christian.
I note the irony that although King would (likely) not recognize as Christians those who did not believe in the same way that he does, who did not share the same dogma, he does not hesitate to cite them (presumably) in his counts of the numbers of Christians in the U.S and elsewhere.
Yeah, save Christianity from the Christians. How long has this been the case? It does seem to be a shame. Where did the concern for *practicing* the faith go? (Comment this)