If you read this site regularly you know that we don’t miss any chance to point out and ridicule political correctness. But, sorry, this story reads like a Saturday Night Life sketch:
BOSTON (Reuters) – Boston set off a furor this week when it officially renamed a giant tree erected in a city park a “holiday tree” instead of a “Christmas tree.”
The move drew an angry response from Christian conservatives, including evangelist Jerry Falwell who heckled Boston officials and pressed the city to change the name back.
“There’s been a concerted effort to steal Christmas,” Falwell told Fox Television.
Well, no Rev. Falwell. It looks more like a concerted effort to stir up a huge controversy and perhaps also help a concerted effort to whip up donations. MORE:
The Nova Scotia logger who cut down the 48-foot (14-meter) tree was indignant and 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,” Donnie 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.”
Honestly (no snark intended): What’s the big deal? If it’s put up around Christmas wouldn’t even a Martian who has been in the United States for even a day after Thanksgiving, hearing Christmas songs on the radio and in malls, and seeing Christmas decorations everywhere, totally understand that the tree represents Christmas?
Does Falwell think people will mistake it for a Chanuka bush? MORE:
Falwell and the conservative Liberty Counsel led a campaign that threatened to sue anyone who spreads what they see as misinformation about Christmas celebrations in public spaces.
The controversy reflects the legal vulnerability of city and state governments over taxpayer-funded displays of religious icons and concern over crossing the line in the separation between church and state.
The stink these folks are raising over making sure the tree is called a Christmas tree should be taken as seriously as the move by an atheist to remove the words “In God We Trust” from American money.
Which proves being obnoxious does not require a stand on the existence of a deity.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.