Tuesday, November 29, 2005
The slippery slope towards theocracy
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert has told federal officials that the lighted, decorated tree on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol -- known in recent years as the "Holiday Tree" -- should be renamed the "Capitol Christmas Tree," as it was called until the late 1990s.
Calling a Christmas tree a Christmas tree has become a politically charged prospect in jurisdictions across the country -- from Boston to Sacramento and in dozens of communities in between.
The debate boiled over in Boston last week when the city's Web site referred to a giant tree erected on Boston Common as a "holiday tree."
The Nova Scotia logger who cut down the 48-foot tree for Boston also was indignant. Donnie Hatt said he would not have donated the tree if he had known of the name change.
"I'd have cut it down and put it through the chipper," Mr. Hatt told a Canadian newspaper. "If they decide it should be a holiday tree, I'll tell them to send it back. If it was a holiday tree, you might as well put it up at Easter."
Is Nova Scotia a red state?
7 Comments:
By 
, at
Tue Nov 29, 09:25:00 AM:
I've never understood the big deal about using the word "Christmas." We've pretty much been successful in turning Christmas into a largely secular holiday rather than a religious one without the help of government. Religiosity on Christmas is almost arcane, so what's the big deal?
By 
Charlottesvillain, at
Tue Nov 29, 09:29:00 AM:
You got me, Dubya. But then again I don't have any issues with the Washington Redskins, Florida State Seminoles, or the pink bathrooms in Kinnick Stadium either. But there are a lot of loud voices that apparently do. (By the way, how come no one is screaming about the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame?)
By cakreiz, at
Tue Nov 29, 09:32:00 AM:
More proof of the accuracy of Michael Reynolds' comment:
"Democrats carry two viruses in their bloodstreams: pacifism and Marxism. For their part, the GOP carries strains of theocracy and plutocracy, equally disturbing."
By , at
Tue Nov 29, 11:48:00 AM:
Religious right imposing it's view on the rest of us? Is this a joke? The USA IS a christian(90%) country, based od judeo-christian values, endowed by their creator and whose governmental buildings were used as houses of worship on sundays. How about the 5-10% of the population not impose it's secular, pluristic, multicultural nonsense on the huge majority of us? Isn't that the question you should ask?
By Charlottesvillain, at
Tue Nov 29, 12:47:00 PM:
Dude, perhaps you are a recent reader of this blog. Sorry for the nuance; it is, indeed, a joke.
By TigerHawk, at
Tue Nov 29, 03:29:00 PM:
Last Anonymous Dude is really gonna hate Cassandra's "equine gaydar" post. Too much nuance.
By Cassandra, at
Tue Nov 29, 05:24:00 PM:
I should probably put a sarcasm disclaimer at the bottom of all my posts. I'm sure I've already made several people's heads explode... sorry.
