Tuesday, November 18, 2008

For Goodness Sake


Even before our turkeys have been sacrificed for our Thanksgiving tables, some people are attempting to sacrifice our Christmas beliefs.
Last week I got an email from a friend who lives in DC where the American Humanist Association has just plopped down $40,000 to run a campaign in bus stations for an ad that features a shrugging person in an oversized Santa suit. The slogan reads, “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness sake.” Trying to justify this campaign, a spokesman acknowledged, "Our reason for doing it during the holidays is there are an awful lot of agnostics, atheists and other types of non-theists who feel a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion."
Isn’t that like saying, “All the Super Bowl parties are not fair to people who don’t like football, so we want to remove that aspect of it to make it more enjoyable for everyone?
And isn’t there a better place to spend $40,000 than to try to attempt to chisel away at the sacredness of the season?
When I would chaperone my kids’ holiday parties at their public schools, we had to be careful to include everyone. Kwanza, Chanukah, and Christmas were all to be respected as celebrations that a child might hold sacred. I never would have considered taking a piece of Kwanza or Chanukah and removing anything I didn’t understand or agree with simply so I wouldn’t feel left out.
But somehow, the Christian faith is constantly challenged in public. Will we say “Happy Holidays’ this year --- or will we come right out and say “Merry Christmas"? Will government put a ban on public displays of the nativity again?
Last month, the British Humanist Association began their attacks with their campaign which attempted to advise: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."
A recent study reports that 92% of Americans believe in God. Do the other 8% have a right to voice their questions and comments? Of course they do; that is the beauty of our country. But do we have the right to defend our faith? Of course we do; that is the necessity of our times.
The question then, as we prepare for the holy season of Christmas, is what are we willing to do to keep Christ in Christmas? Or better yet, what are we willing to do to keep Christ in our lives throughout the whole year? We need to decide now.
For goodness sake.

3 comments:

Joan McNutt said...

Amen - well said. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Joan McNutt

Anonymous said...

I agree, we've got to take a stand. This whole country was founded on Christianity and it's slipping away right before our eyes, because of a small percentage of people.

I still say Merry Christmas to people, mostly out of habit!

Anonymous said...

Tami: Nice to read articles in favor of Christian principles being apart of our society. Well put...I enjoyed it. I always make sure that I say Merry Christmas at this time of year and I am at the point of never sending Christmas cards that don't say Merry Christmas or are religious in some way. Just say no to holiday cards...Say yes to christian themed cards. Margaret