As usual, there was a litany of bizarre Christmas stories in 2009. A few days before Christmas, we commented on a handful of them.
There was a Christmas tree inside Cary, North Carolina’s town hall, but the town officials couldn’t bring themselves to call it by its proper name, instead they relabeled it the “Community Tree.” In Madison, Wisconsin they used to have a “Holiday Tree,” but even that was deemed too improper this year, so they opted for “The State Capitol Tree.” American Atheists threw a party and decorated what they called their “Solstice Tree.”
Vineland, New Jersey decided to call their Christmas parade the “Holiday parade,” maintaining that because Urban Enterprise Zone dollars were used to fund the parade, they couldn’t call it the Christmas parade.
Santa was also banned from his gift-giver role in the Northern Lehigh Valley School District in Pennsylvania; instead the district mascot, the Bulldog, got the job.
In Benton, Arkansas children put on Christmas skits, and in one of them the lead character wore a hula skirt and was rejected because she was not “Christmasy.” The woman in charge of the “Hula Girl” skit announced that “The meaning of Christmas is not to judge each other.”
Finally, one corporate diversity big shot (her actual title is executive director of diversity, inclusion and engagement) advised against saying “Happy New Year.” Instead, her recommendation was “Looking Forward.”
We at the Catholic League are old fashioned. We are pro-Christmas tree, parades and pro-Santa. We wished all the “Looking Forward” types a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
