Column: Political correctness ruins Christmas
Published Dec. 11, 2009
I'd like to end our semester-long political discussion by writing about how political correctness is destroying the Christmas season. Nowadays, employees are ordered not to say the word Christmas, displays are attacked and references to Christmas in the media are demonized as discriminatory and inappropriate.
What we have is a full-scale assault on Christmas due to the holiday's Christian roots.
Those who are trying to be politically correct are trying to keep anyone from being offended or having their feelings hurt. Instead, they are offending a vast majority of people in the name of protecting a tiny percentage of people who find images of Christmas trees and Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer unbearable to see.
An elementary school in Oregon took down its Christmas trees and banned Santa Claus over its Thanksgiving break last month after receiving a complaint that the Christmas tree was a religious symbol. When interviewed for a story by Detroit's FOX affiliate, a parent said she was confused.
"It didn't make sense," she said. "I don't see it as a religious symbol, I see it as part of our cultural traditions of the holiday season, we put up a tree and we decorate it."
Officials in Pasco County, Fla., tried to do something similar in 2004, but there was enough outrage that they reversed their decision to ban Christmas trees in all public places within 24 hours of receiving a letter of protest from the American Center for Law and Justice.
The troubling thing about the war against Christmas trees is that the concept goes against what the Supreme Court has ruled on numerous times. According to the 1989 case Allegheny County v. Greater Pittsburgh ACLU, the Christmas tree, unlike the menorah, is not itself a religious symbol.
"Although Christmas trees once carried religious connotations, today they typify the secular celebration of Christmas," the case decision stated. "When the city's tree stands alone in front of the City-County building, it is not considered an endorsement of Christian faith."
It seems political correctness advocates think they know better than the Supreme Court.
The worst part is a refusal to say the word Christmas. Countless companies banned the word in advertising, etc., only to spark enough outrage for them to reverse their decisions. Lowe's, Walgreens, Target and Sears are just a few stores that banned Christmas only to bring it back due to public outcry. Some stores have even told employees to specifically avoid saying, "Merry Christmas."
Whether a person celebrates Christmas or not is irrelevant. Dec. 25 is Christmas Day, whether the ACLU and PC advocates like it or not.
Although these companies have corrected some of their mistakes, it still begs the question of why they would want to ban Christmas. After all, without Christmas, overall sales would plummet during December.
This is my final column for The Maneater, because I graduate Dec. 19. I'd like to end by thanking them for the opportunity to share my understanding of conservatism with you. I'd also like to thank you for taking the time to read what I have to say. I hope I encouraged conservative readers, educated independents and those new to politics, and I hope I either converted or annoyed liberal readers. Thanks to you all and Merry Christmas.
Eric Hobbs is vice chairman of the Mizzou College Republicans. He can be reached at emhn75@mail.mizzou.edu.
Comments (8)
3:32 p.m., Dec. 11, 2009
Mudfishin said:
The "roots" of Christmas are mostly Pagan, my friend. Read about Saturnalia, Yule, and other Solstice celebrations of various Pagan religions. Those religions were focused on "natural" gods - sun gods, and other celestial gods. They celebrated the coming of the "new sun" or Winter Solstice. In their celebrations they decorated trees, exchanged gifts, sang songs (carols), burned yule logs, they feasted, and used mistletoe and holly in their celebrations as well. The Christians used these to help those they conquered assimilate into their religion. In fact, the pagan aspects of what was later called Christmas was the main reason for the 17th century Puritans in colonial Massachusetts to outlaw the Christmas celebration entirely. The more you know....
12:02 p.m., Dec. 12, 2009
Santa said:
This is true that many of the roots are from paganism. That said, many of the symbols today are associated with Christmas, not pagan holidays. At this point, the Christmas tree is associated with the holiday celebrating the birth of Christ. It's a simple case of ignorance leading to an incorrect perception. That perception has become reality, however. The Christmas tree in Oregon wasn't taken down as a move to avoid looking like they favored paganism, they wanted to avoid looking like they favored Christianity. Again, it's a simple case of perception becoming reality in terms of the symbols of Christmas tree.
11:16 a.m., Dec. 14, 2009
C. Stewart said:
Christmas has both pagan and Christian roots; the holiday is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. At the same time, the symbol of the Christmas tree, Santa Claus (Father Christmas) and even the time of year are rooted in pagan practices that were adopted by the early church. But the roots of Christmas are irrelevant; it is a holiday kept in both secular and religious manners by the majority of the American population. Those attacking Christmas are an aggressive and vocal minority and there is no reason to concede to them. There is no reason to ban Christmas symbols, or any Christian symbols, from government property, nor to ban "Merry Christmas" or even saying "Christmas" itself, because that violates the right of Christians to express their faith on public property. This minority is simply trying to force its narrow view upon our entire society and stifle the religious freedom of those they despise. Is that very American? I certainly don't think so.
4:14 p.m., Dec. 14, 2009
Lucy said:
Political correctness is a tool of communism, jihad, and any other malignant movement intent on destroying the west.
4:48 p.m., Dec. 14, 2009
An Intelligent Thought said:
Did you stop to think that this isn't an attack on Christianity/Christmas, and may just be a wish to be more neutral? Any time I have ever heard an argument for why someone should not say "Merry Christmas", is to just simply substitute "Happy Holidays" instead. Eric, why does everything have to be an attack on something you believe in? Why is it so outrageous that a retail employee should say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas"? How would that look if you told every Jewish customer "Merry Christmas" while they are doing their Hanukkah shopping? If a Jewish person is going to buy a gift this month and a retail employee tells them "Merry Christmas", is it wrong to think that that might offend them? Sure, December 25th is Christmas Day, but this year December 11-19 is Hanukkah. Or how about Kwanzaa? Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26-January 1. Wouldn't you say that it's the Christians and those who practice Christmas traditions who are being ridiculous here? After department stores chose to stop using Christmas in advertising to be more neutral, THEY were the ones that backlashed? Is it too difficult for YOU to hear "holiday" season instead of "Christmas" season? Take a second to step back and think that maybe you're the one who's a little ridiculous, Eric. Maybe not everyone who shops in a Lowe's or a Target practices the same things you do. Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and other holidays are celebrated during this time of the year, so what exactly gives Christmas the upper hand here? I'm a Christian, and I practice Christmas as well. But, it's not like I'm going to go to church on Christmas Eve and not wish my friends "Merry Christmas." However, outside of that setting I'm not going to assume everyone practices the same things as I do, or feel like they should, and you shouldn't either.
5:31 p.m., Dec. 14, 2009
Nate said:
"Like there's 0% intolerance ANYWHERE." I think you can at least define my house and its guests as having "0% intolerance," Brandon. Needless to say, you and Mr. Hobbs will never get an invite because I ironically cannot tolerate you. oops.
1:59 p.m., April 29, 2011
Lake Kinzel said:
Political correctness is the #1 tool a communistic regime can use to control and limit the speech of citizens. The right we worked so hard for and went through a war to get are being underlined by political correctness. And companies not being able to say merry christmas or put up a christmas tree in their lobby is a direct violation of our constitutional rights and yeah Mr. Intelligent Thought, not saying"merry christmas" and not having christmas trees out and no santas does ruin the christmas spirit. SO i would rethink your name because you are obviously not very intelligent.
5:46 a.m., Dec. 11, 2009
Brandon said:
In fact, political correctness RUINS the university. It's absurd! Everywhere you look on campus, there's some politically correct bozo touting the issue of the month: sustainability, radical environmentalism, "waste control" in CDS, veganism, Marxism, "diversity", radical feminism, coal-free mizzou, you name it. I remember some idiot put this really stupid flyer in yellow up at the bus 'depot' near Brady/Student Center last semester in May. The guy was bitching about "Have you been the target of intolerance or discrimination" one of America's most tolerant and liberal campuses in a college town. Come on! What a freakin whiner that kid was. Like there's 0% intolerance ANYWHERE. Come on, people. Let's be realistic.