Christmas time again, which means time for another round of war on secularism and multiculturalism from the right. Yes, it’s “war on Christmas” in the U.S. according to Bill O’Reilly and other shouting heads. Marc Cooper nails it as usual, calling this “one of the most bogus, bullshit, cynical, manufactured, crybaby campaigns that recent history has seen – Christian Conservatives making themselves out as martyrs to a secular dictatorship.”
Now, don’t get me wrong — I am a Christmas-loving Jew. Married to a Catholic. I think New York at Christmas time is beautiful. I actually like the Christmas music piping into every place of business. It’s a break from the ordinary. The song that goes “It’s the most… wonderful time… of the year” brings a dumb smile to my face. The bridge to “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” makes me cry.
But all that aside, these right-wingers have to be kidding when they argue that Christmas symbolism in today’s America is somehow being repressed. In New York it’s bursting out all over. I can only imagine what it’s like in Kansas.
What I find most amusing — disturbing, actually — is how for these conservatives, “Merry Christmas” has become a defiant rejoinder to “Happy Holidays.” Uttering “Merry Christmas” in a tone of political spite — how contrary to the spirit of Christian love and brotherhood, but how utterly typical of the conservative right.
**Update: Via Andrew Sullivan, here is the invite to a “holiday party” being thrown by Bill O’Reilly’s employer, the News Corporation.
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