Has everyone noticed that it’s the most splendiferous time of the year, or that we are a nation of Christmas-lovin’ Americans? For those who have neglected to watch the annual Fox “News” “War on Christmas” extravaganza, our elected representatives have taken the time to remind the nonbelievers amongst us that yes, we are a nation of Christ, praise be.
Last week, just in time for the height of shopping season and in anticipation of the home stretch of a depressingly long election season, the people who make our laws busied themselves with House Resolution (HR) 847: Recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith.
HR 874 passed by a 372 to 9 vote, with 50 members of our esteemed representatives voting “present,” or not voting. On the “aye” side there were, 195 Democrats, and 177 Republicans, while all nine “nay” votes came from the few rational national Democrats. Kudos to Lynne Woolsey for being among the sane.
Many readers may think I’m just making this up. But seriously, on Dec. 10 the House of Representatives of the
The bill resolved that, “the Christian faith (is) one of the great religions of the world, acknowledges the international religious and historical importance of Christmas and the Christian faith,” and “acknowledges and supports the role played by Christians and Christianity in the founding of the
Excuse me while I swallow the bile that just rose in my throat.
We are not a “Christian nation.” We are a nation of Christians. And Muslims, and Deists, and Agnostics, and Atheists, with a few Wiccans thrown in for good measure. We even have room in the boat for Tom Cruise and the Scientologists.
I put this resolution up there with the investigation into steroid use in baseball. The people who wasted my tax dollars with this silly, yet dangerous bill are a bunch of wealthy mostly white people playing to the basest constituency, jerking each other while the rest of the world burns because of disastrous foreign and domestic policy.
We are facing crises of unprecedented scale on the home front and in the world. There’s a health care crisis, a financial crisis brought about by greed and hubris, and a multi-front war punctuated by waste, massive fraud, and the rise of private mercenary armies who will need something else to do once they desert the troops trapped in an unwinnable war. On top of this, the Justice Department has been turned into a political arm of the most crooked administration in the history of our nation.
The First Amendment to the Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” and Thomas Jefferson was in favor of “building a wall of separation between church and state.” The founders knew that religious fanaticism leads to slaughter and slavery, and engaged in a war of independence from the religious zealot King George in order to create a secular nation where people were free to worship as they saw fit, so long as they didn’t push their views onto others.
We have had Christianity pushed down our throats over the course of the past three decades, and HB 847 is continuing this dangerous trend.
I can’t help but remember the warning from philosopher George Santayana, that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. The dog and pony show of our political process has turned into a nauseating race for the bottom, while high crimes and misdemeanors continue to go unpunished.
We’ve lost the war on Christmas, my fellow secular humanists. Go out and shop as if your life and liberty depended on it.
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