‘Mything In Action’

December 19, 2005

When it comes to convincing Americans that there’s an ongoing “war on Christmas,” John Gibson, Bill O’Reilly, Jerry Falwell, and others rely on a series of horror stories that are supposed to prove that too many public officials and commercial outlets have gone to outrageous lengths to undermine the “reason for the season.”

Some of the controversies have already been debunked, but I’d always assumed that the others were isolated incidents in which well-intentioned people went a little too far, creating minor and solitary flaps, which do not a “war” make.

But my friends at Americans United for Separation of Church and State have done us all a big favor and analyzed the right’s alleged examples of anti-Christmas animus to see whether the rhetoric meets the reality. Surprise, surprise, the “war on Christmas” is based almost entirely on hype and exaggeration.

Americans United staff members researched the “war on Christmas” incidents cited most frequently by Religious Right leaders and found them to be based in myth, not fact. For details, read the AU report, “The Religious Right’s Phony ‘War on Christmas’: Mything In Action.”

“This isn’t a war on Christmas it’s not even a skirmish,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “When the facts are exposed, the Religious Right’s ‘war on Christmas’ melts faster than a snowman on an 80-degree day.”

For example, Fox News viewers have likely heard that a Wisconsin elementary school has banned seasonal songs with a religious “motive or theme” from this year’s holiday program. Officials at the Glendale-River Hills School District have posted a notice on the district website calling the entire story “a fraud,” and pointing out that this year’s show includes “Angels We Have Heard on High” and “I Saw Three Ships.”

The Fox News anecdotes never proved that there’s an actual war anyway, but the fact that so many of their stories have turned out to be completely without merit make the O’Reillys and Gibsons of the world look pretty foolish. Make that, more foolish.

That depends. It is my experience over the past 3 years that in this country the facts do not matter to those who want to believe one way or another. Look at that 40% or so who still believe every dropping of guano from the Sadministration. Regardless of multiple and well documented facts to the contrary.

  • Oh come, now, CB, you know very well
    that Americans United is a subversive,
    left wing commie organization out to
    take God away from our country and
    good American folk. Foul and biased,
    indeed.

  • Here’s an idea to consider:

    Instead of saying ‘Happy Holidays’, try saying ‘Happy Holy Days’. So then what would the right-wing cultists have to say?

    ‘Oh, no, your holy day is evil and only mine is good so we can have our holy day but you can’t mention yours.’

    I’d love to hear them try to make that argument stick, I really would. 😉

  • Slightly o/t, but Bush said “happy holidays” at his press conference today. I’m waiting for O’Reilly’s public freakout in 3…2…1…

  • Unfortunately, Bubba is right. I just finished my office Christmas party, a very casual pot luck luncheon with co-workers where we also exchange secret santa gifts. As I was leaving to go back to work, I wished everyone a general ‘Happy Holidays’. I was a bit surprised to find that I had offended one of my co-workers and ended up getting into an argument with him (I am not overly religious, but I do believe in Jesus and consider myself Christian in the try to be nice to people kind of way). My co-worker spouted the same false war on Christmas rhetoric. There is one simple point we need to keep in mind. If we expect non-Christians to not be offended by people wishing them a merry Christmas, than Christians need to not be offended by being wished happy holidays, season’s greetings, or the like.

  • completely o/t, i’m not sure snowmen melt any faster @ 80 degrees than at any other temperature above freezing.

  • I think of this as O’Rielly’s “War on the Jews”. I mean, the only reason people say “Happy Holidays” is to include Hanukkah and Kwanza into the holiday spirit. But with FOX, you’re either Christian or against us. Including Hanukkah is akin to negotiating with terrorists. To recognize that Jews have a holiday around the pagan holiday now used to celebrate Jesus’s birth would make our Lord and Savior cry. The gall of a store to try to appeal to customers of all beliefs! I mean, we know there are Jews out there, but do you have to rub our faces in it?

  • hark,

    “…left wing commie organization out to…”

    I think you mean “left wing terrorist organization…”

    the term “commies” no longer connotes the requiste amount of fear.

  • It doesn’t matter. None of this matters.

    What matters is that we bought into this.

    We bought into the idea that there was this “war,” when it’s really just agenda-driven bullshit propaganda driven by nutjobs. And how do we respond to the nutjobs? We respond by first saying they’re silly and ignoring them and then when it hits sh*tstorm levels, going out and finding “evidence” that they’re wrong. Which, of course, they’ll never listen to, because it’s easier to just beat their breasts about this bullcrap.

    Either way, they’re still setting the agenda. Agenda of stupidity.

    Stupid.

  • The only war on “the reason for the season” was waged, and won, by department stores, malls, and toy sellers long, long ago. The early South Park episode had the correct premise, but in reality Santa Claus wiped Jesus off the Christmas radar generations ago.

    Linus’ soliloquy is about the only time anyone says anything about the real meaning of Christmas, and even that is sandwiched in among toy commercials.

    Givng and receiving gifts is what the “reason of the season” has become, and you can bet Fox’ advertisers wouldn’t put up with an attack on that institution for a second, no sir.

  • Edo – “commies” scares the bejeesus out of
    folks where I come from (Idaho). They don’t
    know that the cold war ended a decade and
    a half ago. A few more years and I’ll switch
    over to “terrorists.” Bear with me.

  • fair ’nuff Hark. I hope for those folks that no one tells them about the commies in China and how they finance our deficit by selling us 80% of what they buy in Walmart…

  • regarding melt rates of snow and ice:

    Comment by angry young man

    “Ask a Scientist” What a refreshing use of government funds. I hope this public use of such a service doesn’t bring it under attack.

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