OldSpeak
Book Review: The War on Christmas
By Courtney Carlisle
December 16, 2005
In The War on Christmas, John Gibson discusses the widespread battle taking place across America to eradicate all mention of Christmas from the holiday season. He states that, in the United States of America, a nation overwhelmingly Christian, literally any sign of Christmas in public can now lead to complaints, angry protests and threats, and finally litigation. Though at first there were bans just on outdoor nativity scenes and any other blatantly Christian symbols, every year limitations get tighter as the war on all things related to Christmas expands. It is lamentable, says Gibson, that saying things like “Merry Christmas” at school or in the office is no longer acceptable, that Christmas trees have become friendship trees, and that people aren’t even allowed to carol in public anymore.
Attributing the war on Christmas to the efforts of many different groups, including municipal governments, corporations and school boards, “overzealous” civil liberties lawyers (in particular the ACLU), professional atheists, and Christian haters who say they are protecting Americans’ constitutional rights, Gibson comments that “they claim they are only adhering to the Constitution, but they have run far out in front of the Supreme Court, and far out in front of the First Amendment, which carries the promise that 1) the government will make no law establishing religion and 2) nor will it prohibit the free exercise thereof.” Though many seem to want to protect the rights of non-Christians who don’t care to see or hear about Christmas, it is Gibson’s position that other religious holidays like Hanukah, Ramadan, and Kwanzaa don’t face this type of discrimination, speaking up for the sake of those Christians who simply want to celebrate their traditional holiday without insulting anyone or having to hide it.
In his salute to lawyers who “wear the white hats” in the war on Christmas, Gibson pays tribute to the efforts of The Rutherford Institute to fight for Christians’ rights to celebrate the holiday, specifically highlighting John W. Whitehead’s consistent efforts to defend religious freedoms in America. He extensively quotes from an interview with Mr. Whitehead, in which Whitehead discusses his experience with the battle against anti-Christian biases during the holidays. Whitehead says, “Christmas and Christianity have become politically incorrect over a period of time. At the same time though, religious belief has strengthened in this country. Where Christians at one time just kind of wanted to fit in, many of them don’t anymore. They want to do their job. They want to be able to go to school and do things. But they don’t want their faith demeaned, and they won’t take a back seat.” Gibson names Whitehead as among “the most prominent of the new breed of Christian lawyers whose names are behind the most important fights of the Christmas season.”
John Gibson hosts Fox News Channel’s The Big Story with John Gibson, a one-hour program that provides in-depth coverage and analysis of the day’s major news. He’s a former anchor and reporter for NBC News, CNBC, and MSNBC, and the author of a previous book, Hating America. When not anchoring for Fox News, Gibson lives on a ranch in Texas with his family.
DISCLAIMER: THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN OLDSPEAK ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE RUTHERFORD INSTITUTE.
