Ok, I am on my soapbox today. The holiday season is here. Last week was Thanksgiving, only one month before Christmas. I am starting to see a lot of postings on Facebook regarding Christmas and "keeping Christ in Christmas." Apparently, President Obama announced that the decorative trees displayed at the White House this year will be referred to as "holiday trees" rather than "Christmas trees." A friend, whom I have a tremendous amount of respect for, posted this on Facebook:
It was announced that there will not be Christmas trees at the White house this year. They will be called Holiday Trees. Obama says this is no longer a Christian Country, it's a country of many faiths. We as Americans must send the message to Obama that this Country was founded on Christian beliefs and we are STILL a Christian Country. Please re-post this! Christmas is about Christ! If he wants a Holiday Tree let him put one up on St. Patty's Day or leave one up all year as a Holiday Tree! I think that ''We the people'' need to take back ''We the People'' and stand up for our rights to make these decisions jointly!!! Please repost. Heaven help Us!!!!!!!!!!!!
This was my response:
Ok, this is too much for me to not say anything. You know how I am. Although I agree that Christ should certainly be kept in Christmas and it should be celebrated as it is his birth, I cannot agree with the statement that, "this country was founded on Christian beliefs and we are STILL a Christian country." Our country was, in fact, founded on the SEPARATION of church and state when our forefathers sought to remove themselves from the Church of England. The First Amendment to the US Constitution reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." That said, I believe the President is correct in calling it a holiday tree as a show of respect for ALL religions. The bottom line is that we ARE a country of many religions and disrespecting people's rights to worship their own deity is disrespecting their fundamental rights as an American. You don't have to agree with their choices, but they have the same rights as you and, therefore, the right to subscribe to their own religious beliefs. It is when one religious group decides that their beliefs are absolute and everyone must subscribe to them, that we have war and unrest. I am a Christian. It is my choice, my belief system and my right as an American to proudly make that statement. It would be no different if I were Jewish, Muslim or even Atheist. Just sayin'
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