If there's anybody we like to poke fun at more than
Falwell fighting for holy holiday / He threatens to sue, boycott groups that subvert Christmas The 8,000 members of theChristian Educators Association International will be the campaign's "eyes and ears" in the nation's public schools. They'll be reporting to 750 Liberty Counsel lawyers who are ready to pounce if, for example, a teacher is muzzled from leading the third-graders in "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing."An additional 800 attorneys from another conservative legal group, the Alliance Defense Fund, are standing by as part of a similar effort, the Christmas Project. Its slogan: "Merry Christmas. It's OK to say it."
Falwell's got about 24,000 members in his congregation and let's see...aren't there a gazilion + Americans in this country? (Yeah, we know we're exaggerating, but you get the picture.) However, the
That chain (Wal-Mart) was briefly the target of a boycott called by the Catholic Rights League after an employee described Christmas in an unflattering way in a company e-mail. The employee has since left and the boycott is off, though the Catholic Rights League still criticizes Wal-Mart for tellings its employees to say, "Happy holidays."Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Fogleman said the "Happy holidays" greeting is "more inclusive. With 130 million customers walking through the door and 1.3 million employees, it's safe to say there are a lot of different faiths out there."
Bit even that isn't good enough for the AFA. AFA President Tim Wildmon wants to see retailers prominently display "Merry Christmas" signage if they expect "Christians to come and buy products during this so-called season." He doesn't give a rats ass if the signs offend any non-Christians either, and says they can just walk right by and all of them need to understand "they are living in a predominantly Christian nation."
That's really the issue, isn't it? Christians wanting to make sure Christianity (in its evangelical incarnation) is recognized as a defacto standard national religion here in the US. While undoubtably the majority are Christian, is it truly and utterly necessary to freak out each time you see a retailer trying to just allow the holiday to be more welcoming for those who aren't of the same faith? The whole attitude of Falwell and the AFA smacks of intolerance - an intolerance bred by Christian evangelical fanaticism. In this, the Europeans are right: evangelicals are using a scud missles when in fact a peace pipe might be more prudent. Falwell and people like him have never understood you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
They all fail to realize that naturally, as they go to such extremes as suing and boycotting, they will indeed turn even some of their own against them - the reaction is so outrageous, so over the top, that most people will unconsciously shy away from it.
The ACLU has a problem too:
"People are free to worship in their homes and their houses of worship and if they rent out a hall," said the ACLU's Jeremy Gunn, national director of the group's Freedom of Religion and Belief program. "You have to ask, why do they want to worship in the public schools?"That they're doing this in the name of religion is very, very sad," Gunn said. "It would be one thing if they're talking about consumerism of the season or something, but they're not."
The Founding Fathers created this country so that all could worship as they please. This doesn't mean just one fanatical bunch. Grow up, Falwell. There ARE other people with different beliefs than yours in this country. I'm one of them.


