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The War on Christmas!!!!!

tis the season that Fox News pundits get to pretend to be very angry about the totally factual and scary War on Christmas. i know this b/c i do on occasion watch some Fox News, and my mother and her husband most certainly watch a lot of Fox News and they are totally pissed off about how Christmas is under attack.

now i, like most Atheists, find this ridiculous. not that there aren't some silly stunts being pulled by secular folk in protest to certain things that mix Christmas and public land or schools. these things do happen every year, but they are really small potatoes in the big picture. but the outrage that people like Bill O'Reilly are feigning are off the charts. last night, his first two segments were dedicated to this so called war. he had on the RI Governor whose great crime was to continue his predecessor's tradition of calling their Christmas tree a "Holiday" tree. the horror!!

personally i see nothing wrong with calling it a Christmas tree. that's what it is. however, if a state or community or town want to be more inclusive to non-Christians then i don't see a problem with that either. regardless, the furor over a semantic issue is so overblown. there is no war on Christmas. Americans celebrate an entire Christmas season. it lasts a month, with lights, santa, parades, decorations, shopping, tv specials, etc. to be in such an uproar is sheer Christian persecution syndrome. they want to be persecuted.

the so called war on Christmas is really nothing more than correcting Christian overreach. they've gotten away with so many abuses when it comes to religion in public life. now that secular groups like the FFRF, American Atheists, and the ACLU have seen their power increase due to an uptick in non-theists and secular progressives, many of their overreaches are being targeted. and in most cases the seculars win. these losses are their proof that there is a war on Christmas. not so - it's a leveling of the playing field.

the governor of RI summed it up nicely in his segment with O'Reilly. he said "you folks at Fox are just so angry". tis the season! ho ho ho, Merry Christmas!

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Permalink Reply by Tom Sarbeck on December 4, 2012 at 2:31am

Future, the cynic in me says what's genuine is the pursuit by xianity's rulers for money, power, and often sex.

What say you to the idea that with money or power, xianity's rulers don't have to trust anyone?

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Permalink Reply by Future on December 4, 2012 at 9:58am

Religion and politics are two sides of the same coin. It's no wonder they are joined at the hip. Both make promises they can't deliver on in return for your patronage (religion = heaven in the afterlife, politics = individual prosperity), and dire predictions of the future for anyone who doesn't follow along (religion = hell in the afterlife, politics = Obama will take your guns away.) If I had the ambition I could list hundreds of other examples.

What say you to the idea that with money or power, xianity's rulers don't have to trust anyone?

Christianity doesn't really have "rulers" anymore, so they seek to marry politics and various brands of Christian religions through Dominionism. From day one, the only thing sincere about the different variants of Abrahamic religions, was their initiative to draw numbers to a cause. Constantine was not concerned about how he will be viewed by a creator when he is dead, he was concerned about homogeneity of those he governed. Religion was just a tool back then, as it is just a tool now. Trust is something that only saturates the lower strata of such a society. As you go up the castes, the trust fades to deceit.

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Permalink Reply by MB on December 7, 2012 at 12:30am

Not a Yule tree here.. Start of Summer here in Australia so I am not going to celebrate winter solstice.

I do celebrate Christmas though. the festival of catching up with family and friends, eating too much and spoiling my kids. I think there's something on at the local churches at the same time too though.

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Permalink Reply by Napoleon Bonaparte on November 30, 2012 at 2:17pm

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Permalink Reply by Pat on November 30, 2012 at 3:15pm

The true meaning of Christmas, as evidenced by (what I believe) is the 2nd internet South Park cartoon, which went viral and led to the creation of the Show. Please enjoy, The Spirit of Christmas.

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Permalink Reply by booklover on November 30, 2012 at 5:03pm

Of course I totally agree with you Matt! Hugs, Mel

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Permalink Reply by Patrick F on November 30, 2012 at 8:23pm

Good article on the Atlantic Wire http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/11/bill-oreilly-war-ch...

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Permalink Reply by Tom Sarbeck on November 30, 2012 at 11:55pm

There's an endless supply of easily manipulated viewers out here.

When BillO gets them, Fox Noise can raise its advertising rates and pay BillO more.

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Permalink Reply by Diane Freeman on December 3, 2012 at 6:21pm

BillO needs to be honest. The war on Christmas is over. We won it last year.

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Permalink Reply by Patrick F on December 1, 2012 at 12:01am

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Permalink Reply by booklover on December 1, 2012 at 8:23am

LOL @ the cartoon Patrick! :)l

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Permalink Reply by Steph S. on December 1, 2012 at 12:19am

They do always say the are being persecuted and there is a war against Xmas. I remember hearing on a radio show and the talk show host was saying they were boycotting stores that didn't say "Merry Christmas" but instead said "Happy Holidays".