One of the main contributors to
Christmas controversies is
the BI-POLAR NATURE of the holiday.
When one side of Christmas's bi-polar eqaution
won't let others play their reindeer games,
tempers flair, controversy arises.
and sometimes the games get canceled.
The controversy over Christmas rages on...
some call it
the
"WAR ON CHRISTMAS."
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What about Christmas trees versus holiday trees?
What about “Merry Christmas” versus “Happy Holidays”?
What about colored lights versus white?
Christmas music being banned from a school bus?
Christmas carols being forbidden?
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We are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, imprudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right. Intellectually,
it is possible
to carry on this process for an indefinite time: the only check on it is that sooner or later a false belief bumps up against solid reality, usually on a battlefield.
- George Orwell (1946)
con·tro·ver·sy
(kŏn'trə-vûr'sē)
n. pl. con·tro·ver·sies
A dispute, especially a public one, between sides holding opposing views.
See Synonyms at argument.
The act or practice of engaging in such disputes: writers skilled at controversy.
[Middle English controversie, from Latin contrōversia, from contrōversus, disputed :
contrō- (variant of contrā, contra-) + versus, past participle of vertere, to turn;
see wer-2 in Indo-European roots.]
"controversy." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 24 Jul. 2009.
<Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/controversy>.
"Most of the problems we face at Christmas today
-- the greedy materialism, the jaded consumerism, the deliberate manipulation
not only of goods but also of private desires and personal relationships
into purchasable commoditites -- are surprisingly old.
They date ... to the emergence of the domestic Christmas itself
... being publicly debated, and lamented, as early as the 1830s."
- The Battle for Christmas by Stephen Nissenbaum, p. 318
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(Click on a yellow dot to link to a news story)
Philadephia, PA - Tree of Knowledge at courthouse Ottawa, Canada - Change in Christmas Carol lyrics Dodgeville, WI - Christmas Witch in school Queen Creek, AZ - Christmas tree vs. holiday tree Tewkebury, UK - Give Christmas Cards the sack Fort Collins, CO - Colored vs. white lights + Menorah vs. Christmas tree for the town
Olympia, WA - Atheist sign next to a manger Everywhere - The War on Christmas
CHECK OUT THIS TALLY OF
2009 CHRISTMAS CONTROVERSIES
CHECK OUT THESE LINKS
TO SOME OLDER CHRISTMAS CONTROVERSIES
English door (lock) is super-glued to contain Christmas.
August - Washington State Capitol
Olympia ditches all public Christmas displays
except state sponsored holiday tree.
September - Texas State Board of Education
(Resolved) TX-size uproar over taking “Christmas” out of sixth-grade
social studies curriculum on world cultures.
September - New Jersey School District
Lawsuit appeal charges that a 2004 ban on Christmas music
singles out Christianity
September - Merry-Joseph Team Fights for Christmas Carols
Christmas carols -- or else... A proposed California ballot
initiative by brother-sister team (Merry Susan & David Joseph
Hyatt) would require -- not just allow -- public schools to offer
Christmas music.
Christmas Tree - Arizona schoolchildren chosen to decorate tree
told to keep religion out
October - Royal Mail Christmas Strike
(Resolved) Postal Union planned rolling strikes leading up to Christmas.
Michigan (Warren) man fights to return a Nativity scene
his father built in 1945 to median of a public street.
(Resolved) Some Christians in KY are angry over the governor's “holiday
tree” terminology for a giant evergreen that will brighten
the Capitol lawn this winter.
November - “Help Save Christmas” Action Pack
The Liberty Counsel launched its 7th annual “Friend or Foe
Christmas Campaign,” which includes an action pack.
(Resolved) American Family Association (AFA) calls a limited two-month
boycott of The Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic over their
censorship of the word "Christmas."
restrictions - One parent equates Santa to Swastikas
The American Humanist Association plans to expand nationwide
an advertising campaign it began last year in Washington, D.C.
calling on all to celebrate a Godless Christmas with the simple
message "No God? No Problem."
November - Bless ACLU With A “Merry Christmas” Campaign
Christians writing ACLU “Merry Christmas” cards telling them
to leave Christmas alone and there’s no such thing as a
“Holiday Tree.”
A Thanksgiving ad by Best Buy wishes readers a Happy Eid
In Chambersburg, PA, a council rules out all displays in response
to nonbeliever’s plan for a solstice sign near the crèche
CHECK OUT THESE
2011 CHRISTMAS CONTROVERSIES
November - Tree Lighting Sparks Holiday Debate
Residents of Mt Sinai, Long Island are engaged in a heated
holiday debate over the use of the word "Christmas" in reference
to a tree that has long been referred to as a "holiday tree".
"The Nativity Project" is part of a nationwide campaign to share
the message of Christmas & to confront the erosion and hostility
toward public expressions of faith, especially during the
Christmas Season. Their first public display of affection is on the sidewalk in front of the US Supreme Court building in DC.
December - Lincoln Chafee stands by PC 'holiday tree'
Rhode Island governor says 'holiday tree' is rooted in RI tradition.
"Taking the Christmas out of the tree is in the Rhode Island
spirit," Chafee said, invoking he 1663 Colonial charter and
legacy of state father Roger Williams.
December - Christmas Cut from Fort Worth ISD Classrooms
The Fort Worth school district says there is a time and a place
for Christmas cheer -- and it's not during class time
