Have A Merry ... Something

Now we have degenerated to the point where saying "Merry Christmas" can get you in trouble.

I am one of the most skeptical people alive and I have long made it a practice to unearth examples of political correctness gone awry.

(The phrase "political correctness gone awry" seems like a redundancy to me.)

But not even I saw this one coming.

You see, the ardent defenders of liberty have struck again. In the South Orange/Maplewood School District in New Jersey you're not allowed to say "Christmas."

The word "Christmas" has been determined to be offensive to some people, so now it falls in the same category with the Ten Commandments and "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Those words and things are not to be displayed on public property because they are an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state.

Well, the Constitution doesn't really say "separation of church and state," but it does have the establishment clause.

That clause clearly prohibits Congress (lately interpreted as any government-related entity) from establishing (lately interpreted to mean allow) or prohibiting religion. (No reinterpretation of the prohibiting part of the clause is necessary. The PC police just ignore that part. Prohibiting religion is OK.)

So now, in the more enlightened places in America, I guess people are starting to finally get it right after 228 years.

Take Denver.

In their recent Parade of Lights, a Christian group was not allowed to enter a float with the greeting "Merry Christmas" on the side.

The group also was prohibited from singing Christmas hymns.

This because these overtly religious themes might be "construed as disrespectful to other people ... Our policy, which we have applied consistently for years, is to not include religious or political messages in the parade - in the interest of not excluding any group," said Jim Basey, the president of the Downtown Denver Partnership, as quoted by the Rocky Mountain News.

O.K., the guy said they have to exclude people to make sure no one is excluded. It will take me decades to reach that level of enlightenment.

But wait.

The newspaper also reported the parade did contain groups celebrating American Indian holy people, German culture and the Chinese New Year.

Shouldn't those groups be "excluded" as well? Guess not. They're not Christian.

Of course Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, an enlightened individual, ordered the "Merry Christmas" sign on the City and County Building removed for next season.

He relented after an outcry from the community.

"Over the past several days, it has become clear to me that there is strong community sentiment to maintain the 'Merry Christmas' sign, and I am glad to oblige," Hickenlooper said in a prepared statement.

"My intention was never to disrespect or slight anyone or any religious tradition. I apologize to anyone who may have been offended or mistakenly felt I was being anti-Christmas."

No brain buster to read between those lines: "Hmm, I just might want to be re-elected in this town someday."

Interestingly, a judge in Rhode Island got it right with regard to a Christmas challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union.

This judge allowed Cranston, Rhode Island's citizens to set up holiday displays on city property.

"The fact is,' he ruled, 'that Christmas is a holiday with both religious and secular overtones.' As a consequence, the city of Cranston had a valid secular purpose in hosting a diversity of displays for the holidays.

Seems fairly obvious, doesn't it?

You know, there aren't enough lawyers in the land to sue away the nation's heritage or the fact that Christianity had a huge influence on the cultural development of out nation.

We celebrate the birth of Christ here, OK?

But I suppose they will never stop trying.

Does celebrating diversity require swatting down the celebrators of Christmas?

Is it necessary to suppress a majority in order to protect a minority?

Is exclusion necessary to achieve inclusion?

Seems we're limiting the rights of one group in the name of protecting the rights of other groups.

I'm no attorney, but that certainly doesn't seem judicially prudent.

When it comes to religion, I think the intent of the founders was pretty simple. They wanted the government to stay out of it.

As for me, I'll keep saying "Merry Christmas." It sounds so much nicer than "Happy Holidays."

The political correctness cops can say "Merry Period Of Time In December When People Exchange Gifts, Overeat And Take Time Off Work."