By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host
The smells of Christmas have risen into the air. Cookies and Pine. Sugar and spice. Christmas Trees, strapped on the roofs of tiny sedans, blowing in the wind as they proceed up the road through the smoke filled streets (in California, it's a toss up on if that smoke is from a wildfire, or marijuana). Children's seasonal artwork covers the face of refrigerators, bulletin boards, and kitchen tables. Santa Claus, appearing in all shapes and sizes and colors, is ringing his bells and ho-ho-ho-ing around the stores, malls, and gathering centers. Candles line mantles, with stockings hung with care. Sparkling Christmas decorations glittering and blinking have been applied in a fun-filled festive fashion. Flashing lights hang from the eaves, blow-up Santas and snowmen wave to passersby, and Nativity Scenes line the streets. Churches are hosting various Christmas concerts and plays, and retail clerks smile and offer "Merry Christmas" as the shoppers scoot out the door.
During the last decade those things seemed to be at risk. Fear of betraying political correctness filled the air. "Happy Holidays," said the retailer. "Enjoy your winter break," said the educator.
I recently attended a Holiday Concert put on by 1st Graders. A Christmas Tree was on the stage. They sang songs with the words "Merry Christmas" in them. During the last decade that would have been a surprise . . . but not now.
Sure, those who demand that it is no longer permissible to wish anyone "Merry Christmas" are out there. But, the pro-Christmas warriors have awakened. Christians, emboldened by the launch of a slow drain of the swamp are standing tall. The proponents of killing Christianity call it all insensitive, offensive, not inclusive.
Christianity, the purveyors of political correctness explain, is exclusive and is not the only reason for the season. Never mind that God welcomes everyone into His Fold, through Christ, regardless of past sins - all one must do is accept His Mercy. Darkness says otherwise. Darkness proclaims we must be equal and free from the bondage of morality. It's a free for all. Do as you feel. Do what you want. What could possibly go wrong?
Except, what they don't realize, is that their claims of what freedom is, in reality, are bondage.
2 Timothy 2:26 - and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
John 8:34 - Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.
2 Peter 2:19 - promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.
2 Timothy 2:26 - and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
John 8:34 - Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.
2 Peter 2:19 - promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.
While enslaved by their debauchery, the leftists attack anything traditional, Christian, or not liberal. The war rages in all States, and in all of Western Civilization. Christmas has always been under attack. Statism seeks to eliminate all traditional representations of Christmas, from secular icons such as the Christmas Tree and Santa Claus, to the Christian representations such as Christmas Carols and Nativity Scenes. They seek to eliminate Christmas, itself. Christmas, however, is only a secondary target. The real target is Christianity. . . and God.
Their religion is political correctness. The last presidential election, however, revealed that the silent cannot be forever silenced. It turns out the enemy of Christmas is the minority, a small segment of American Society. The true liberal left loonies are but a small number, but they have convinced everyone that they are in control. Society by and large believes the deception. They believe the lies. They believe that the liberal left is somehow the majority . . . when they are not.
If even one person is offended, it must be stopped, it must be silenced, it must be eliminated. They have been trying to convince us that it is the job of the government to force those who dare disagree with their war on Christianity to be silent. Any sign of Christmas, or utterance of "Merry Christmas," opens one up to complaints, litigation, angry protests, threats, and worse. And the anti-Christmas mob has been getting away with it, because we weren't willing to stand up to them, and say, "Enough is enough."
On November 8, 2016 we finally said, "Enough is enough."
To the horror of the forces of darkness, President Trump said recently, "We do not worship government, we worship God."
While some retail workers are being told, "We don't say 'Merry Christmas,' it has to be 'Happy Holidays,'" the election of Donald J. Trump has emboldened people, and they are saying "Merry Christmas."
A war is being waged, and a counter-revolution has been launched to combat the madness. The war is an offensive one, led by secularists, humanists, and well-funded cultural relativists and cultural Marxists. They believe America is evil as founded, and that the Christian majority must be silenced by any means necessary. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Americans for the Separation of Church and State provide the muscle for these anti-Christmas radicals. These are people who celebrate sexual perversion in our society, yet are appalled by the emergence of the grope-fest going on in politics and the entertainment industry. They support the murder of unborn babies, yet do not understand why life is not being revered. They cannot bring themselves to allow Christians to celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ, erroneously claiming Christians desire an oppressive theocracy in America. They use their definition of the separation between church and state to threaten any public official who dares to even refer to Christmas in any way in a public place - for that would be placing Christianity in the public square - and that just cannot be "tolerated."
"Keep your religion inside the four walls of your church," they say, as they threaten the churches if they dare preach on anything considered political, including homosexuality.
But President Trump and his Republican Congress just did away with the Johnson Amendment.
"Christianity needs banning," they tell us, "for it is dangerous to a free society. . . therefore, Christmas needs banning, as well."
"We say Merry Christmas," instructed President Trump.
Freedom of Speech, like Freedom of religion, is only a revocable privilege, according to the Leftists who infest our culture like a voracious parasite. "There are no rights to speech and religion," they proclaim, "unless the government defines it, or provides a safe space for it."
Freedom of Speech, like Freedom of religion, is only a revocable privilege, according to the Leftists who infest our culture like a voracious parasite. "There are no rights to speech and religion," they proclaim, "unless the government defines it, or provides a safe space for it."
Therefore, the appearance of anything Christian in view of anyone who can possibly be offended is treated like a chemical spill, and according to the liberal leftists, the cause of such morality must be eliminated. Christmas must be neutered, Christians must be silenced, and God must be killed.
Like us, the darkness understands that the only true antidote for what ails humanity is God . . . and they want the disease to continue, and fester.
Like us, the darkness understands that the only true antidote for what ails humanity is God . . . and they want the disease to continue, and fester.
Our faith is not a "religious privilege" that may be granted or revoked by the generosity of government. The mere idea that government has any hand in our right to the free exercise of religion suggests that our freedom of religion is government-granted, rather than a freedom that is God-given.
The Founding Fathers were concerned about the possibility of what we are seeing today among the ranks of the liberal left. They feared that the manipulation of language would open the door for government to regulate religious practices, and even give way to a societal questioning of the very presence of Christmas in our society, and the existence of God in the universe. Such language would open a Pandora's Box that could lead to government officials wrongly believing that they were the grantors of the freedom of religious expression. Such a belief by government would then give them the alleged authority to regulate freedom, and deny access to it.
Thomas Jefferson was very critical of government intrusion into religious expression. In his letter to the Danbury Baptists in 1802, as well as his writings in the Kentucky Resolution of 1798, and his participation in disestablishing the official church in Virginia in 1786, he explained that the goal was not to protect government from religion, but to protect the free exercise of faith from government. The philosophy marched hand in hand with the concept of keeping the "State" limited, and at arm's length from regulating or punishing religious practices and expressions. This idea, in fact, was deeply embedded in American Thinking. Religious Freedom was, and is, a focal point of American History. Jefferson believed the federal government had no authority to interfere with, limit, regulate, or prohibit public religious expressions. In fact, none of the founders gave the slightest hint that they believed religion should be removed from the public square, or that the square should be secularized. The religious freedom clauses in the U.S. Constitution were put there for the purpose of trying to keep government from darkening the doors of the church.
As Alexis DeToqueville discovered during his visit to the United States in the 1830s, the politicians prayed, and the pastors preached politics, but government did not control the church, and the church did not control government. They were symbiotic, in America. A concept foreign to Europeans.
As far as Jefferson, or any of the other founders, were concerned, the only time government should be involved in religious matters would be if the alleged religious expressions were acts "against peace and good order, injurious to others, subversive to good order," or acts by "the man who works ill to his neighbor." In other words, things like Islamic jihad, the attempt to implement Sharia law in the place of the laws of the host country, or the disruptive "call to prayer" from loud speakers.
The war against Christianity exists, but to defeat the perpetrators of the offensive it takes thinking outside the box, and not responding to everything in a reactive manner. Such as in the case of a high school football team who was told the banner on the field they burst through at the beginning of every game could no longer have a Bible Verse on it. In response the friends and family in the stands took matters into their own hands, showing up with massive signs and banners of their own, each with a different Bible verse on them, or a positive Christian message, as the players rushed onto the field.
Was the darkness prepared to tell each individual in the stands that they could not proclaim their faith?
The Founding Fathers were concerned about the possibility of what we are seeing today among the ranks of the liberal left. They feared that the manipulation of language would open the door for government to regulate religious practices, and even give way to a societal questioning of the very presence of Christmas in our society, and the existence of God in the universe. Such language would open a Pandora's Box that could lead to government officials wrongly believing that they were the grantors of the freedom of religious expression. Such a belief by government would then give them the alleged authority to regulate freedom, and deny access to it.
Thomas Jefferson was very critical of government intrusion into religious expression. In his letter to the Danbury Baptists in 1802, as well as his writings in the Kentucky Resolution of 1798, and his participation in disestablishing the official church in Virginia in 1786, he explained that the goal was not to protect government from religion, but to protect the free exercise of faith from government. The philosophy marched hand in hand with the concept of keeping the "State" limited, and at arm's length from regulating or punishing religious practices and expressions. This idea, in fact, was deeply embedded in American Thinking. Religious Freedom was, and is, a focal point of American History. Jefferson believed the federal government had no authority to interfere with, limit, regulate, or prohibit public religious expressions. In fact, none of the founders gave the slightest hint that they believed religion should be removed from the public square, or that the square should be secularized. The religious freedom clauses in the U.S. Constitution were put there for the purpose of trying to keep government from darkening the doors of the church.
As Alexis DeToqueville discovered during his visit to the United States in the 1830s, the politicians prayed, and the pastors preached politics, but government did not control the church, and the church did not control government. They were symbiotic, in America. A concept foreign to Europeans.
As far as Jefferson, or any of the other founders, were concerned, the only time government should be involved in religious matters would be if the alleged religious expressions were acts "against peace and good order, injurious to others, subversive to good order," or acts by "the man who works ill to his neighbor." In other words, things like Islamic jihad, the attempt to implement Sharia law in the place of the laws of the host country, or the disruptive "call to prayer" from loud speakers.
The war against Christianity exists, but to defeat the perpetrators of the offensive it takes thinking outside the box, and not responding to everything in a reactive manner. Such as in the case of a high school football team who was told the banner on the field they burst through at the beginning of every game could no longer have a Bible Verse on it. In response the friends and family in the stands took matters into their own hands, showing up with massive signs and banners of their own, each with a different Bible verse on them, or a positive Christian message, as the players rushed onto the field.
Was the darkness prepared to tell each individual in the stands that they could not proclaim their faith?
Hence, our most powerful weapon. Individuality.
President Trump says it is time to start saying "Merry Christmas" again. Encourage others to do so. As individuals we outnumber the collectivist tyrants who wish to destroy American Tradition. We are the majority. We are the righteous. It is high time we begin to act like it.
Welcome to The Revolution of God's gift of individualism.
Merry Christmas.
Welcome to The Revolution of God's gift of individualism.
Merry Christmas.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
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