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| Steyn: And merry Xmas to you all |
| 2006-12-17 |
| I passed through Shannon Airport in Ireland the other day. They've got a "holiday" display in the terminal, but guess what? It says "Merry Christmas." The Emerald Isle has a few Jews, and these days rather a lot of Muslims, and presumably even a militant atheist or two, but they don't seem inclined to sue the bejasus out of every event in the Yuletide season. By contrast, the Associated Press reports the following from Riverside, Calif.: "A high school choir was asked to stop singing Christmas carols during an ice skating show featuring Olympic medalist Sasha Cohen out of concern the skater would be offended . . . " I hasten to add this Sasha Cohen is not the Sacha Baron Cohen of the hit movie 'Borat.' The Olympic S. Cohen is a young lady; the Borat S. Cohen is a man, though his singlet would not be out of place in a louche Slav entry to the ice-dancing pairs. Likewise, the skater-puts-carols-on-ice incident seems as sharply satirical of contemporary America as anything in 'Borat,' at least in its distillation of the coerciveness of "tolerance": "A city staff member, accompanied by a police officer, approached the Rubidoux High School Madrigals at the Riverside Outdoor Ice Skating Rink just as they launched into 'God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen' and requested that the troupe stop singing . . . " |
| Posted by:.com |
| #11 Look up the history of "wreath" and crossroads and Rome someday. You might think twice and smile when looking at that wreath. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-12-17 18:51 |
| #10 they're the best! Authentic virgin olive oil...uh...nevermind |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-12-17 16:40 |
| #9 Or do you want Islamic, Wiccan and Kwanzaa, etc. displays too? I don't have any objections to acknowledging their celebrations... although for some reason I've never been invited to a Saturnalia orgy... |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-12-17 16:37 |
| #8 yes, I did :-) thx |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-12-17 16:01 |
| #7 Frank, you might enjoy this quiz. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-12-17 15:57 |
| #6 I politely disagree, he was in the wrong. A christmas tree is a secular symbol (of pagan origins IIUC), as is Santa and the reindeer. A Nativity would be a different thing, entirely. Or do you want Islamic, Wiccan and Kwanzaa, etc. displays too? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-12-17 14:51 |
| #5 Obviously Mr. Steyn, whose writings I normally like, never read past the report of the eeeeevil Jewish rabbi who shut down Christmas to find the real story. Y'all know, because it was posted here at Rantburg a few days ago: the Chassidic rabbi who wanted to add a privately funded Chanukkah menorah to the publically funded Christmas trees, and the airport bureaucrat who decided to get rid of the entire display instead, lest any others desire to be allowed to add their own bits to the display. Yes, there was talk about suing if the menorah couldn't be added, but nobody has yet bothered to ask why the rabbi felt it necessary to do so when there are plenty of precedents for allowing such things in the public square. Yes, something like 75% of Americans regard themselves as Christians of one sort or the other, but acknowledging the rest of us does not diminish your holiday. And if you're going to argue Holocaust (a subject upon which I have a few personal credentials), what harm does it do to publically acknowledge -- at least by implication -- that the Jews who were intended to be erased by the Nazi Holocaust are still around to celebrate the holiday commemorating the second time a nation attempted to eradicate its Jewish subjects for daring to worship differently? How does this diminish Christmas? /end rant as I glance over at Mr. Wife's 7' Christmas tree in the front room window, then in the other direction at the Hanukkah menorah and dreidles on the kitchen counter, awaiting celebration of the third night of the holiday. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-12-17 14:35 |
| #4 No X in Christmas. OldSpook: You must be one of those Xtians. /sarcasm, joshing, kidding aside - I have a good idea where you stand religiously. |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2006-12-17 10:55 |
| #3 No X in Christmas. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2006-12-17 10:47 |
| #2 Don't quite follow that Excalibur. The Rabbi presumably has a vested interest in avoiding another holocaust. Yet, he's spending his energies trying to horn in on American traditions. In fact, his actions are creating space for muslims to do the same I might add. The airport has no direct vested interest in Iran's evil plotting. Putting up a Christmas tree is practically a responsibility in such a venue during the holiday season. The airport has no place in the Holocaust denial controversy or preventing a Holocaust II, and therefore in putting up a conifer, the airport is not diverting any energies better spent. Mark is right on. |
| Posted by: Lanny Ddub 2006-12-17 10:31 |
| #1 Everyone who knows Rabbi Bogomilsky says he's an affable fellow, he doesn't want to Scrooge up anybody's Christmas, he's an all-around swell guy. No doubt. But in the week when the president of Iran hosts an international (and well-attended) Holocaust Denial Convention (which simultaneously denies the last Holocaust while gleefully anticipating the next one), this rabbi thinks it's in the interests of the Jewish people to take legal action against "holiday" decorations at Seattle Airport? Sorry, it's not the airport but the plaintiff who's out of his tree. An ability to prioritize is an indispensable quality of adulthood, and a sense of proportion is a crucial ingredient of a mature society. Agreed. Though this line of argument renders Steyn's column equally problematical. If an impending Holocaust is more important than "holiday trees" in airports it is also more important than no "holiday trees" in airports. Unless we are somehow meant to believe this fake, pagan version of Christianity is on the front line against the islamists. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2006-12-17 08:49 |