I took a small excerpt from a recent Skewed Review that ran in the final semester issue of the Dixie Sun, and mailed it via letter-to-the-editor to The Spectrum of St. George, UT; the Deseret News of Salt Lake City; The Salt Lake [City] Tribune and USA Today.
Of those four, the powers-that-be at The Spectrum and the Deseret News decided to run the letter. If the other two ran it, I haven't been made aware.
The letter read as follows:
"Why has it become so passe to admit a tie of Christianity to the season of Christmas? Today it seems the act of actually celebrating the birth of a significant baby warrants more legal action than it does cheer.
No matter where you turn, the societal standard seems to be to erase Christmas from the equation of this time of year. "Merry Christmas" was once unashamedly on the lips of everyone I met, but now I hear mostly "happy holidays" or "seasons greetings" in the attempt not to offend the people who, in my humble opinion, are just looking for attention.
I guess despite the truckloads of offending remarks we are constantly dumping on each other every other day of the year, it's the general consensus that December is the month when we're not allowed to offend anyone.
I say Merry Christmas, and bah-humbug to those who don't!"
The entire article can be read at www.dixiesunlink.com, search keyword "Matt Jacobson."
Now, you would think, or at least I did, that a person standing up for the season of Christmas would bring fellow Christians out of the woodwork to join in and praise Jesus. Not the case here. Both letters were published on the Internet on each newspaper's respective website (the Deseret News version has been edited).
There were numerous replies on each website which I perused the day they were published. I could hardly believe the amount of negative comments that were elicited because of my pride in Christmas.
No offense to anyone, but without Christmas, there wouldn't even be a holiday season. Yes, there would still be Hanukkah and Ramadan, but neither would hold the importance that they do today for the mere fact that they aren't trying to be a part of the crowd, so to speak.
And don't get me started on Kwanzaa. That holiday was made up simply because there had to be some sort of black holiday to rival Christmas.
Towns wouldn't decorate with menorahs or African flags during this time of the year. There would be no uprising of atheists who demand a separation of Church and State. (Those atheists, might I add, need to read the Constitution and see the definition of that amendment, but I digress because that's a whole other topic.)
You can't tell me that the pagan rituals of old would carry on today without Christmas. Consider the summer Solstice. In the days before Christ, this season was a time not unlike the winter Solstice. There would be dancing and rituals and the pagans would worship a God and Goddess and who knows what else.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see a shred of those rituals going on in July. I highly doubt that modern man would still take the winter Solstice so seriously. Can you just picture a business man, his wife, three kids, one dog and a gerbil, dressing in robes and lighting a fire outside, dancing around it and chanting on the shortest day of the year? Seems highly unlikely to me.
Yes, it's all about Christmas, hence it's all about Christ. I don't accept "happy holidays" just because, according to one person who commented on The Spectrum website, it's "inclusive of others." It's not inclusive. There's no need to be inclusive. You're either celebrating Christmas, or your just trying to puff up some other minuscule holiday simply to rival that of Jesus' birthday.
I think I can safely say this would never be allowed to run in the Dixie Sun.
