CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Our Governor and First Lady lit the state’s holiday tree in the Capitol rotonda last Friday. Of course, it’s not a holiday tree at all. Not calling it a Christmas tree is a liberal twisting of language in some misguided attempt at inclusion.
There’s only one holiday that I know of that’s observed by bringing trees into your home and decorating them. The holiday is Christmas. It is one of the high holy days of the dominant religion in our country. 63% of us identify as Christian.
The twisting of meaning behind holiday parades and holiday trees is this: the Christmas tree has absolutely nothing to do with the religious meaning of Christmas. When the Christ Child was born in a stable and laid in a manger, there was no Norway spruce nearby. No plastic ornaments. No flashing lights. No tinsel. No stockings hung by the chimney with care. No St. Nicholas and his reindeer. Those are all symbols of secular Christmas – the shopping and gift-giving holiday – which 85-percent of Americans observe.
That’s where the ‘holiday-this’ and ‘holiday-that’ crowd get things wrong. They are worried that a Muslim, or a Jew, or a Hindu or someone of some other faith – or no faith at all – might be offended. Well, there’s nothing to be offended about. The things that are being changed to ‘holiday’ instead of ‘Christmas’ aren’t cases of me trying to impose my faith on you. Candy canes and Rudolph aren’t symbols of my faith.
And even if they were, there’s nothing wrong with them. What our Constitution requires is we have freedom of religion. Whatever religion you are, you must be treated equally and fairly when dealing with the government.
Now consider Waukesha… where city employees have been asked not to have symbols of Christmas around their desks or work areas. Does someone actually believe that a Shik or a Buddish would be mistreated by a city employee who has elf-on-a-shelf at her desk. If so, when has it happened? To whom?
We, as a nation, celebrate Christmas, not a vague unnamed holiday. If you are in the tiny minority that does not exchange gifts or wishes of good cheer, that’s fine. So why are we changing Christmas to ‘holiday’ for people who don’t observe the holiday at all?
Chris Conley
Comments