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Grubble Grubble
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Tuesday, November 26, 2002 :::
My god, has it been this long since my last blog? If anyone was reading me, I am sorry. I have had plenty to rant about, but no time to rant. Ok, that will change.
It is a few days before Thanksgiving, all the Christmas stuff is up in the shops, so it is time for my annual holiday rant. I suppose I should set up a feedback mechanism so you people can yell at me. Either for not blogging or for what I actually do choose to blog.
rant
I just read an article discussing political correctness in Canada. It would seem that in Toronto, public officials have put up a "holiday" tree. The mayor issued a statement correcting that pc remark and explaining that from now on, the tree would be properly referred to as a Christmas tree.
I have a great deal of respect for the Toronto mayor. I do not support any form of state sponsored religious activity, but at least Mayor Lastman is not some politically correct automaton who hides behind pc terms to further a purely personal agenda. He is willing to call a spade a spade; or in this case, call a Christmas tree a Christmas tree. Maybe some of his chutzpah can find its way across the border to the United States.
For those that have missed it over the years, Christmas is a national holiday in the United States. Businesses, for the most part, close and we all get a day off to celebrate. At the Whitehouse, a Christmas tree has adorned the lawns for decades. It is called the National Christmas Tree. What I would like to know is how anyone can say that this is not tantamount to state-sponsored religion?
Our courts have ruled that government offices may display images of Santa Claus as they have declared him to be a secular image. I would take umbrage with this. Santa Claus represents one thing: Christmas. He travels the world bringing Christmas presents to all the good little girls and boys. But he is not a religious symbol, so he is deemed secular.
I would point out to the courts that Santa Claus is a representation of St. Nicholas, the Archbishop of Myra in Lycia (now Turkey) during the early 4th century. He was later bastardized to Santa Claus during the Protestant movements in an effort to retain his legend but move away from his Catholic origins. Santa Claus is a religious symbol.
/rant
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