Monday, May 09, 2005
Too Moderate To Get It?
George Will seems to be telling Christians to "cool their jets," and SmartChristian seems to be joining the chorus. I understand where they are coming from to a point, Christians are not yet victims in this nation. However, I am not sure Will understands much of what is going on. Will's example in the pull quote SmartChristian uses has to do with the absence of Christimas obervances in public schools which he describes as "petty."
If all they did was ban manger scenes, Will would be right in describing it as petty, but there is far more at stake. I have attended holiday events where I was chastised for daring to greet people with "Merry Christmas," that's not avoiding Christmas observances, that's abrogation of free speech and personal religious expression.
What's at stake is not religious observance, but simple morality. To continue with the Christmas example. It is no longer a question of being pluralistic in approach so that a holiday event would be decorated and feature Christmas, Hannukah and Kwansaa, but it is now a matter of the total absence of anything. Under these circumstances a holiday party is just another drunken bacanalia like that witnessed most any weekend. The check of the season that made holiday parties more civil for those of us that chose not to participate in such banal behavior goes completely missing, so now we have no party whatsoever.
There is a strong desire by some in the nation to wipe religion and religious moral concerns from the public discourse. This is both unconstitutional, and will let loose forces that any government is simply not prepared to deal with.
We are not vicitims, and our rhetoric should avoid the unnecessary superlative, but the stakes are high and the battle is real.
If all they did was ban manger scenes, Will would be right in describing it as petty, but there is far more at stake. I have attended holiday events where I was chastised for daring to greet people with "Merry Christmas," that's not avoiding Christmas observances, that's abrogation of free speech and personal religious expression.
What's at stake is not religious observance, but simple morality. To continue with the Christmas example. It is no longer a question of being pluralistic in approach so that a holiday event would be decorated and feature Christmas, Hannukah and Kwansaa, but it is now a matter of the total absence of anything. Under these circumstances a holiday party is just another drunken bacanalia like that witnessed most any weekend. The check of the season that made holiday parties more civil for those of us that chose not to participate in such banal behavior goes completely missing, so now we have no party whatsoever.
There is a strong desire by some in the nation to wipe religion and religious moral concerns from the public discourse. This is both unconstitutional, and will let loose forces that any government is simply not prepared to deal with.
We are not vicitims, and our rhetoric should avoid the unnecessary superlative, but the stakes are high and the battle is real.
