The Rocket

Issue date: 12/8/06 Section: Focus

Media Credit: Nate Daymut

With the holiday season upon us, there are always certain things about Christmas that people yearn for, from the smells of Christmas trees to freshly baked cookies, that take them back to when they were children watching "A Christmas Story."

And regardless of Christmas day symbolizing the birth of Jesus Christ, this season is celebrated by all different religions and individuals as a time to rejoice and promote love and happiness.

However, in the past few years, many individuals and organizations have been fighting about what the season should be called, along with how it should be represented.

Many people have put pressure on businesses to secularize the season, stating, for example, that saying "Merry Christmas" appeals only to Christians.

A lot of these groups have also pushed for the removal of traditional carols being sung during Christmas recitals in public schools because they believe the songs cross the line of separation between church and state.

Last year, several schools stopped giving out candy canes to students because it is widely believed that the candy cane represents "J" for "Jesus," and when turned the other way, it represents a shepherd's staff, which reminds the world that Jesus was the "shepherd of lost sheep."

This year, the Festival of Lights display in St. Albans, W. Va., has been making headlines because the organizers decided to keep the nativity scene in their public display but remove Jesus, Mary and Joseph from it.

However, while there has been a push to oust the many Christmas traditions and symbols in businesses and government offices, many groups are boycotting companies that remove particular Christmas decorations that relate to the birth of Christ.

One of the individuals in the forefront of this effort is conservative talk show host and Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly.

As the one to help coin the term for this dilemma, "The War on Christmas," individuals like O'Reilly have been successful in getting companies like Wal-Mart to allow employees to revert back to wishing customers "Merry Christmas" rather than "Happy Holidays."

Though O'Reilly stated on his program last week that companies such as Best Buy were firing employees who said "Merry Christmas," to customers, a spokesman for Best Buy denied the allegation.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools