Santa Gets the Boot…for a little while.

It’s never too early for reports about the “War on Christmas” to begin making their way into the media.

The latest example of perceived anti-Christmas sentiment occurred at the Hollings Cancer Center in Charleston, South Carolina, when hospital staff decided to give Santa the boot this year.

According to The Post and Courier, hospital volunteer Frank Cloyes has donated his time over the past two years to help make those suffering through chemotherapy feel a bit more cheerful. The 67-year-old, who is a retired insurance executive, would dress up as Santa Claus, hand out snacks and engage the patients.

Nothing more than the thirst to instill holiday cheer has driven his efforts in the past. Cloyes even footed the bill for his own costume rental. But yesterday, he was told by a volunteer coordinator at the hospital that his goodwill was no longer needed.

Hollings spokeswoman Vicky Agnew said that the hospital‘s state affiliation made Santa’s presence problematic. This, of course, was never a problem in the past. Hollings, as FOX Nation notes, is part of the University of Southern Carolina.

Adnew also said that decorations would be “more secular and respectful to all beliefs.” She continued, “We don’t want to offend a volunteer with good intentions, but we need to think of the bigger picture. People who are Muslim or Jewish or have no religious beliefs come here for treatment.”

Cloyes, who is a self-described libertarian with no religious affiliation, didn’t agree with the decision. ”Santa is a tradition and everyone loves him,” he said. “It’s just something that makes people happy for a while. Kids liked it, staff liked it. People took pictures.”

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But the story doesn’t end there. This afternoon, following public outcry, Agnew issued a statement saying, ”We’ve received a number of strong responses to the Santa story, and it prompted another discussion on our end. As a result, we’ve decided to allow a Santa presence this year.”

Frank Cloyes (Image Source: Post and Courier)

The Courier continues:

In a statement Wednesday, Hollings spokeswoman Agnew said: “When we discussed not having a Santa presence this year, we were actually responding to previous complaints from patients with other holiday beliefs who felt excluded.”

Hospital officials based their decisions on respecting “the different cultures and beliefs of the patients we care for,” Agnew said in the statement. Santa and other holiday traditions now will be allowed “because we recognize the emotional benefit to patients,” she said.

It‘s interesting what a little public relations drama can do to an institution’s decision-making processes. It seems Santa won — this time, at least.

 

H/T The Blaze

Atheist + Billboard + Christmas, does not equal Peace on Earth

American Atheists announced Monday on their “No God Blog” a new billboard campaign in their continued effort in “laboring for the civil liberties of atheists,” but in reality just upsetting those who disagree with their theological stance.  A press release for the American Atheists’ new holiday season billboard campaign reads:

“American Atheists announced today that their new billboard is going up in several locations nationwide, including the New Jersey side of the Lincoln Tunnel: the same location as last year’s famous ‘You KNOW it’s a MYTH’ billboard. The new billboard will also be going up in Ohio and Florida.

This year’s holiday season billboard features pictures of Neptune, Jesus, Santa Claus, and the Devil and says, ‘37 Million Americans know MYTHS when they see them. What do you see?’”

The organization’s Communications Director Blair Scott went on to say:

“Every year groups like The Catholic League and American Family Association told Americans about a war on Christmas that simply did not exist. Last year we thought we would give them what they seemed to want and fired the first shot in the war on Christmas. To both groups we say, ‘Happy Holidays!’”

Anticipating the inevitability that their billboard will offend others, Dave Silverman, the president of American Atheists, said, “When you question someone’s long-held beliefs and doctrine they are going to be immediately offended and be on the defensive: it’s a known psychological phenomenon.”

Silverman is the same wordsmith who said the following when his group filed a lawsuit to stop a steel cross from being displayed at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at Ground Zero:

“The WTC cross has become a Christian icon. It has been blessed by so-called holy men and presented as a reminder that their god, who couldn’t be bothered to stop the Muslim terrorists or prevent 3,000 people from being killed in his name, cared only enough to bestow upon us some rubble that resembles a cross.”

The group writes in a letter on their web site that the billboard campaign is not an effort to convert theists into atheists, but an “attempt to get the church pew atheists to consider what they are doing.” It goes on to ask, “Why are they going through this ridiculous motion of pretending to believe in a myth, just to please other people?”

From: The Blaze

To Tax or not to Tax….the Christmas Tree

“The White House has decided to sideline a proposed  fee on Christmas trees, after the fee was ridiculed by critics as a tax on  Christmas.

The 15-cent tax on Christmas trees was announced  Tuesday in the Federal Register and was meant to pay for a new board tasked with  promoting the Christmas tree industry. It was supported by Christmas tree  growers, who wanted a stable source of revenue to fund a new marketing  campaign.

But the change quickly drew complaints from Rep.  Steve Scalise, R-La., and others. Scalise described the fee as a “Grinch” move  by the Obama administration and vowed to fight it.

White House spokesman Matt Lehrich told Fox News on Wednesday afternoon that the  administration is putting a stop to the proposal.

“I can tell you unequivocally that the Obama  administration is not taxing Christmas trees. What’s being talked about here is  an industry group deciding to impose fees on itself to fund a promotional  campaign, similar to how the dairy producers have created the ‘Got Milk?’  campaign,” he said. “That said, USDA is going to delay implementation and  revisit this action.”

The new program was set to go into effect Wednesday.  According to the Agriculture Department announcement, the government would have  imposed a 15-cent-per-tree charge on “producers and importers” of fresh  Christmas trees, provided they sell or import more than 500 trees a year.

The program and fee were supported by some in the  Christmas tree industry. The money was not meant to pay down the debt or fund  any other program, but designed to go back into the new Christmas Tree Promotion  Board.

The board, proposed earlier this year, is the  culmination of a years-long effort by the fresh Christmas tree industry to  promote itself, according to background information provided in the Federal Register.  The industry has faced increasing competition from producers of artificial  trees, but efforts to collect voluntary contributions for a fresh-tree marketing  campaign have repeatedly run out of funding. So the government stepped in to  mandate a fee to support the promotion board.

Heritage Foundation Vice President David Addington,  who first reported on the rule on his blog Tuesday evening, said there were two  problems with the new fee. First, he said, it’s likely the 15-cent fee would be  passed on to consumers. Second, he said it’s inappropriate for the government to  be putting its “thumb on the scale,” helping out the fresh-tree sellers and not  the artificial-tree sellers.

“If it’s one thing I think the free market could  handle, it’s letting people decide what kind of tree they want to buy for  Christmas,” Addington told FoxNews.com.

But Agriculture Department spokesman Michael T.  Jarvis had defended the program, saying it’s along the lines of over 20 other  promotional programs supported by the department, such as the “got milk”  campaign.

“It’s worked great for beef, pork, chicken, eggs,”  he added.

Jarvis also insisted the fee does not count as a  tax, since the industry is effectively “assessing themselves.”

“This one’s not a tax,” he said.

The industry itself further rejected the claim that  the fee would be passed onto consumers. The National Christmas Tree Association  said in a statement that the program “is not expected to have any impact on  the final price consumers pay for their Christmas tree.”

The group said most growers who weighed in on the  proposal were in favor of it.

According to the Federal Register, the new board was  supposed to launch a “program of promotion, research, evaluation, and  information designed to strengthen the Christmas tree industry’s position in the  marketplace.”

As part of that job, the board was charged with improving the  image of both Christmas trees and the industry itself. After three years, an  industry-wide referendum will be held to determine whether to renew the  program.”

from: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/11/09/merry-christmas-agriculture-department-imposes-christmas-tree-tax/#ixzz1dJ8Wf9rt

Another School a little Fishy on Christmas

“There is controversy and confusion in the town of Mesquite, NV after teachers and staff members at the local high school were told to stop saying, “Merry Christmas,” according to an attorney with a conservative advocacy group.

Teachers at Virgin Valley High School are reportedly not allowed to post any religious Christmas decorations, and are prohibited from engaging in other Christmas activities as part of an agreement with the Nevada American Civil Liberties Union, according to Alliance Defense Fund attorney David Cortman.

He said the agreement was in response to the ACLU’s threat of litigation. Read the letter the ADF sent to the high school.

“Employees, including teachers, can’t even say the words, ‘Merry Christmas,’ in the school,” Cortman told Fox News Radio. Students, however, are still permitted to use the traditional holiday greeting.

Virgin Valley’s principal, Dave Wilson, called it a “huge miscommunication” and said there are holiday decorations around the school.

“Never did we have a directive that came out to teachers verbally, never did anything go out in a staff meeting,” he told Fox News Radio. “Teachers and any individual are welcome to wish kids a merry Christmas on an individual basis. That’s not a problem at all.”

He said parents may have misconstrued a controversy involving the student council. They wanted to host a Christmas assembly. Students were also using the intercom system to invite their classmates to turn in slips for “Christmas” wishes.

“I directed that to be changed to a holiday assembly,” Wilson told Fox News Radio. He also asked them to say “Holiday wishes” instead of “Christmas wishes.”

“It is a holiday celebration,” Wilson said. “Not necessarily a Christmas celebration.”

The principal said he didn’t want students to feel pressure “as far as being forced to celebrate it in any one given form.”

Nevertheless, several dozen parents and students protested the alleged “Merry Christmas” ban at a rally outside the school.

 “They took away prayer, now they’re saying you can’t say ‘Merry Christmas,’” Narvin Ruth told the Mesquite Local News. “It’s about time we took our rights back.”

The newspaper wrote an editorial on the controversy, calling on the ACLU to “back off on this one, and allow our children to revel in the Christmas for as long as adolescence will allow it.”

“Merry Christmas is a friendly greeting which acknowledges the season, and nothing more,” the editorial read. “Christmas symbols pose no more danger of converting people to Christianity than images of Santa and Frosty leading to obesity.”

Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the Nevada ACLU, told Fox News Radio they are not to blame and never threatened to sue the school.

“Saying Merry Christmas does not create a problem for us,” he said. “There are certain people perhaps who want to make this into a conflict where personally I don’t see where there is any need for conflict.”

A spokeswoman for the Clark County School District released the following statement on Monday:

“The Clark County School District respects the diversity of our school communities and follows established parameters for public entities. Since holiday greetings were not conveyed with a public address system and in an assembly, some people may have assumed that all speech on campus is restricted,” read a statement released by spokeswoman Cynthia Sell. “That is not true, as non-instructional time provides opportunities for people to interact.”…”

http://radio.foxnews.com/2010/12/21/merry-christmas-banned/

No Candy!

“HAYMARKET, Va. (WUSA) — They call themselves the “Christmas Sweater Club” because they wear the craziest ones they can find. They also sing Christmas songs at school and try their best to spread Christmas cheer.

Now all 10 of them are in trouble because of what they did at their school.

“They said, ‘maliciously maim students with the intent to injure.’ And I don’t think any of us here intentionally meant to injure anyone, or did,” said Zakk Rhine, a junior at Battlefield High School.

The boys say they were just tossing small two-inch candy canes to fellow students as they entered school. The ones in plastic wrap that are so small they often break apart.

Skylar Torbett, also a junior, said administrators told him, “They said the candy canes are weapons because you can sharpen them with your mouth and stab people with them.” He said neither he nor any of their friend did that.

Next thing they knew, they were all being punished with detention and at least two hours of cleaning. Their disciplinary notices say nothing about malicious wounding but about littering and creating a disturbance.

“It was at 7 in the morning, before school even starts, so I don’t what we’d be really disrupting,” said Cameron Gleason, also a junior.

Principal Amy Etheridge-Conti says she can’t comment on the students’ discipline but did say there was a lot more to it than handing out candy and that the discipline was warranted.  

The boys admitted their incident may have caused litter since some kids dropped their candy canes on the floor.  But Cameron Gleason said he spent an hour cleaning up the dropped candy.   

The boys’ parents think the school went overboard and maybe administrators were trying to stop their boys from spreading Christmas cheer.

Mother Kathleen Flannery said an administrator called her and explained “not everyone wants Christmas cheer. That suicide rates are up over Christmas, and that they should keep their cheer to themselves, perhaps.”

Patti Gleason, the mother of Cameron Gleason says, “I am 100 percent sure they did nothing wrong. We’ve gotten so many different stories. It went from maiming kids with candy canes, to littering. And then when received the referral (disciplinary notice) it said ‘disruption.’ So nobody really knew what they were getting in trouble for, they were just making up a whole bunch of different things.”…”

http://princewilliamcounty.wusa9.com/content/christmas-sweater-club-punished-local-high-school

Feds Now say it’s “Ok”

“The small-town bank in Oklahoma will be able to restore its Christian signs and symbols after all, thanks in part to public outcry against the Federal Reserve.

 The president of Payne County Bank, Lynn Kinder, said he spoke with the second in command at the Federal Reserve late Thursday evening. Both sides agreed to work out the issue.

 ”The federal reserve immediately took action, ” Kinder said in a statement. “And allowed us to restore our Christian display of items and verses on our television and website until a final determination is made. It appears that the matter will be resolved.”The small-town bank in Oklahoma will be able to restore its Christian signs and symbols after all, thanks in part to public outcry against the Federal Reserve.

The president of Payne County Bank, Lynn Kinder, said he spoke with the second in command at the Federal Reserve late Thursday evening. Both sides agreed to work out the issue.

“The federal reserve immediately took action, ” Kinder said in a statement. “And allowed us to restore our Christian display of items and verses on our television and website until a final determination is made. It appears that the matter will be resolved.”…”

http://www.koco.com/news/26174152/detail.html

Now the Fed. Get’s Involved

“A small-town bank in Oklahoma said the Federal Reserve won’t let it keep religious signs and symbols on display.

Federal Reserve examiners come every four years to make sure banks are complying with a long list of regulations. The examiners came to Perkins last week. And the team from Kansas City deemed a Bible verse of the day, crosses on the teller’s counter and buttons that say “Merry Christmas, God With Us.” were inappropriate. The Bible verse of the day on the bank’s Internet site also had to be taken down.

“I don’t think there should be a problem with them displaying whatever religious symbols they want to display,” said Amy Weierman, a Perkins resident.

Specifically, the feds believed, the symbols violated the discouragement clause of Regulation B of the bank regulations. According to the clause, “…the use of words, symbols, models and other forms of communication … express, imply or suggest a discriminatory preference or policy of exclusion.”

The feds interpret that to mean, for example, a Jew or Muslim or atheist may be offended and believe they may be discriminated against at this bank. It is an appearance of discrimination. 

Federal Reserve examiners come every four years to make sure banks are complying with a long list of regulations. The examiners came to Perkins last week. And the team from Kansas City deemed a Bible verse of the day, crosses on the teller’s counter and buttons that say “Merry Christmas, God With Us.” were inappropriate. The Bible verse of the day on the bank’s Internet site also had to be taken down.

“I don’t think there should be a problem with them displaying whatever religious symbols they want to display,” said Amy Weierman, a Perkins resident.

Specifically, the feds believed, the symbols violated the discouragement clause of Regulation B of the bank regulations. According to the clause, “…the use of words, symbols, models and other forms of communication … express, imply or suggest a discriminatory preference or policy of exclusion.”

The feds interpret that to mean, for example, a Jew or Muslim or atheist may be offended and believe they may be discriminated against at this bank. It is an appearance of discrimination….”

http://www.koco.com/r/26162860/detail.html

Red Cross in UK say “Nope” to Christmas

“Christmas has been banned by the Red Cross from its 430 fund-raising shops.

Staff have been ordered to take down decorations and to remove any other signs of the Christian festival because they could offend Moslems.

The charity’s politically-correct move triggered an avalanche of criticism and mockery last night – from Christians and Moslems.

Christine Banks, a volunteer at a Red Cross shop in New Romney, Kent, said: ‘We put up a nativity scene in the window and were told to take it out. It seems we can’t have anything that means Christmas. We’re allowed to have some tinsel but that’s it.

‘When we send cards they have to say season’s greetings or best wishes. They must not be linked directly to Christmas.

‘When we asked we were told it is because we must not upset Moslems.’

Mrs Banks added: ‘ We have been instructed that we can’t say anything about Christmas and we certainly can’t have a Christmas tree.

‘ I think the policy is offensive to Moslems as well as to us. No reasonable person can object to Christians celebrating Christmas. But we are not supposed to show any sign of Christianity at all.’

Labour peer Lord Ahmed, one of the country’s most prominent Moslem politicians, said: ‘It is stupid to think Moslems would be offended.

‘The Moslem community has been talking to Christians for the past 1,400 years. The teachings from Islam are that you should respect other faiths.’

He added: ‘In my business all my staff celebrate Christmas and I celebrate with them. It is absolutely not the case that Christmas could damage the Red Cross reputation for neutrality – I think their people have gone a little bit over the top.’

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-152361/The-Red-Cross-bans-Christmas.html#ixzz18NFIjaAU

We’ll let you have a tree…BUT

“Ashland public schools can display a decorated pine tree if it is surrounded by symbols from other religious holidays, but they should not display a Christmas tree alone, in order to remain religiously neutral, Superintendent Juli Di Chiro told the School Board Monday.

District officials have implemented new holiday guidelines this year, after a controversy erupted at Bellview Elementary School last December over Principal Michelle Zundel’s removal of a holiday tree, because a family complained that it was a religious symbol. After dozens of parents and students protested the decision, Zundel replaced the tree, adding other winter decorations and allowing students to decorate the tree with symbols from their own religions.

“Something that was problematic was, we didn’t have any written guidelines for teachers and schools to use,” Di Chiro told the board.

A committee of elementary school parents, teachers and administrators helped create the district’s new guidelines over the past year, she said.

“Certainly these guidelines could be used at anytime that these celebrations could come up, but for us that mainly happens in December,” Di Chiro said. “It’s actually called the ‘December dilemma’ that many, many schools face.”…”

http://www.dailytidings.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101215/NEWS02/12150304/-1/NEWSMAP

ACLU to teachers, “Be PC!!!”

“School superintendents across the state were reminded by the ACLU this week that holiday celebrations focusing primarily on one religious holiday amount to an unconstitutional endorsement of  religion. 

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) letter, addressed to 137 public shool leaders across the state, stated that it was responding to a number of complaints from families about school party activites this Christmas season. 

Hedy Weinburg, ACLU executive director in Tennessee, cited several U.S. Supreme Court decisions about the matter.  

But several area citizens, like Jim Brown, think that such admonitions are misguided and potentially dangerous.  Brown commented on the news, saying “We are a Christian nation.  Let’s act like it.”  and said that he hopes that the teachers and administration will celebrate the Christmas season.  

Said one area teacher (name withheld), “I respect people of different faiths, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to eliminate my own from my work and and my classroom.   I can enjoy Christmas as Christmas without worrying that I’m going to offend someone.   My money still says that I trust in God.   Are they going to stop me from using that, too?” …”

http://www.ucdailynews.com/schools/ACLU-Warns-Schools-to-Say-Holiday-Parties-vs-Christmas-111571939.html

Also, the ACLU published this article about Christmas on their web-site. This paragraph caught my attention.

“ What the ACLU does oppose is the government favoring a specific set of religious beliefs to the exclusion of others. The Bill of Rights establishes that the government should not be in the business of endorsing any one religion. For that reason, the ACLU takes issue when the government sponsors a religious display—not because we are waging war on Christmas or any other religious holiday—but because it’s unconstitutional.”

http://action.aclu.org/site/MessageViewer?dlv_id=57961&em_id=56821.0