MSNBC: Do you believe there is really a "war on Christmas"?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3080261/#survey

Do you believe there is really a "war on Christmas"?

* 20679 responses


Yes 51%
No 49%

Is there a war against Christmas? The ACLU and a lot of other people have been trying to take Christ out of Christmas for years. At this time of year, many people will believe that that's a real concern. in Newport News, Va., an estimated 8,000 people showed up for the town's Christmas celebration, except they are calling it that. They're calling it Hollydazzle. And instead of lighting the 40-foot Christmas tree, Newport News officials are going to be lighting, get this, the tree of illumination.

The events are also going to include, of course, Frosty the Snowman, make-your-own-snow globes, and that traditional Christmas fair, Mr. and Mrs. Mouse.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3080261/#survey
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10297701

In 1959, the recently formed John Birch Society issued an urgent alert: Christmas was under attack. In a JBS pamphlet titled "There Goes Christmas?!" a writer named Hubert Kregeloh warned, "One of the techniques now being applied by the Reds to weaken the pillar of religion in our country is the drive to take Christ out of Christmas -- to denude the event of its religious meaning." The central front in this perfidious assault was American department stores, where the "Godless UN" was scheming to replace religious decorations with internationalist celebrations of universal brotherhood.

"The UN fanatics launched their assault on Christmas in 1958, but too late to get very far before the holy day was at hand," the pamphlet explained. "They are already busy, however, at this very moment, on efforts to poison the 1959 Christmas season with their high-pressure propaganda. What they now want to put over on the American people is simply this: Department stores throughout the country are to utilize UN symbols and emblems as Christmas decorations."

According to the JBS, this assault on yuletide iconography was "part of a much broader plan, not only to promote the UN, but to destroy all religious beliefs and customs." The pamphlet called on all Americans to fight back by informing department stores that those with improper ornamentation wouldn't be getting their business.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/11/21/christmas

Selling a giant war on Christmas
What does a 2,200 pound hunk of rock lying beneath a tent in Cooperstown, NY tell us about the religious right? Quite a bit more than you might think, especially the lying part. And, if you’re real good (or at least real quiet), you just might get another one for Christmas.
Full article here: http://www.neuralgourmet.com/giantwaronxmas