The Grinch is
REAL!
Warning:
This column may offend anyone bothered by
truth, goodness and holiday celebrations!
No longer just a childrens fantasy
story, The Grinch Who Stole
Christmas is alive and well in
modern day America.
But, the real Grinch doesnt live at
the top of Mount Crumpet. No, no, he
resides in the cold, black hearts (and
offices) of the ACLU and every person who
tries to stop others from celebrating the
season of giving, the season of charity
and the season of happiness for children
and their families.
And, just as the fictional Grinch came
down off Mount Crumpet to steal Christmas
from the Whos down in
Whoville, these real life Grinches
come out from their caves every year to
file lawsuits and steal Christmas from
children everywhere they can.
Whats so amazing about todays
Grinches is that they are just as mean
and just as irrational as the fictional
one. To these people, God is to be
shunned, goodness is
offensive and the mere
thought of another person celebrating a
holiday rooted in religion...thats
just plain loathsome.
Dr. Suess himself couldnt have
possibly imagined that his creation would
someday be a reality in the form of
modern day religious bigotry. But here we
are, a culture under attack by a very
small minority who cringe at the site of
a Santa Claus or a Christmas angel.
Now, the Christmas-hating Grinches are
even filing lawsuits and complaining
about people who put up Christmas
displays on their own private property,
using local zoning regulations to
restrict the myrth and merriment of their
fellow citizens. Theyve even found
ways to use condo and neighborhood
associations to adopt intolerant bylaws
that discriminate against people of faith
and even the faithless who enjoy the
American holiday tradition.
WHY?
Well, they are offended of course. As if
the sight of pine tree with colored
lights is akin to using a racial slur...
or the sound of children singing Jingle
Bells is equal to hearing Hitler Youth
songs about exterminating Jews.
Wait, on second thought, the ACLU and the
Christmas-haters have defended the
rights of Nazis and the
Klan to offend, which I guess begs the
question: How is a Christmas tree or a
Christmas song more damaging to society
and more offensive than racist Nazi
symbols and songs?
How is it that offensiveness
is the standard for stopping Christmas
displays but not so much for the hateful
demonstrations of racists and fear
mongers? Doesnt free speech apply
to everyone regardless of the type of
speech? Or is speech only prohibited
today when its about goodness,
religion, God, Christmas and other
objectionable evils to these
confused and empty souls?
The answer to that is simple. This has
nothing to do with sensibilities or
offensiveness. It has nothing to do with
protecting the constitution or stopping a
government established religion.
Its really about the narcissistic
few who want to erase the words
...or the free exercise
thereof from our first
amendments freedom of religious
expression. They hate God and they hate
the fact that Christmas is rooted in
religious tradition. Even though to many,
it is a secular American tradition
practiced by people of many (and no)
faiths at all.
Personally, I have had enough of the
sanctimonious sound bite arguments,
backward thinking and dishonest debate.
Ive had enough of people forcing
the rest of us to sanitize society from
words and symbols that only evil could
possibly find offensive.
All the while, the offended
are lecturing the rest of us about being
tolerant of weird sexual life-styles,
compassion for criminals and
accepting those who views
things differently.
Its time to stop giving in to these
people and say enough is enough.
We shouldnt be fearful of offending
someone with the goodness of Christmas.
We shouldnt be afraid to say to
anyone offended by a pine
tree with lights that they need serious
psychological help.
People who so intolerantly demand that
the majority bow down to their lack of
beliefs (or their hatred for faith and
goodness) and then force us to remove
everything that offends them should be
shunned year-round.
The fact is, Christmas is rooted in
Christianity but it is also celebrated by
atheists, agnostics, Jews, and others. It
is, to some, a secular American holiday
which has evolved and taken on a whole
new meaning than just the birth of Jesus
Christ. Allowing the free exercise of
Christmas celebration on public property
does not establish a government religion.
Anyone who says otherwise is fooling
themselves in order to fool the rest of
us.
But we are not fooled.
Its not we who celebrate Christmas
who are offending others. Goodness is not
an offensive trait. In the real world we
have to recognize that it is those who
hate God and Christmas who are being
offensive. It is they who should be more
tolerant of symbols and songs, the values
of which they certainly do not share. It
is the Grinch who must tolerate the will
of the majority, not the majority who
must be inconvenienced by a monster who
takes great joy in depriving others of
happiness. Just imagine ... if the
Whos down in Whoville, instead of
celebrating Christmas over the objections
of the offended Grinch,
removed Christmas from their little town
square so as not to offend him with their
infernal singing and
happiness heard all the way up on top of
mount Crumpet?
Would Whoville be a better place?
Is America?
Merry Christmas!
This column
was originally published in The Valley
Patriot, December 2004 edition.
Tom Duggan is the
president of Valley Patriot, Inc., a
former Lawrence School Committeeman, the
former political director of Mass
Citizens Alliance and hosts the Paying
Attention! Radio Program on WCAP, 980AM,
every Saturday from 10am-1pm. You can
email your comments to Tdugjr@aol.com .
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