Reasons for the season

Ho ho ho! It’s time for Santa to move over and make more room for Joseph, Mary, and the King of Kings!

The two columns that appeared in the Dec. 24 edition of the Saipan Tribune opinion section was clearly not a sample representation of what the majority of Americans believe. On the positive side, it brings out issues that the public might comment on.

The first article concerned the word “Merry” in the words Merry Christmas and how the word was used in a more disgraceful way. Who really cares how the word was used in the 1600s? If the nutty “professor” were to open his dictionary today it means “full of cheerfulness” and “joyous in spirit.” Also Stephen Nissenbaum, the writer of the “Battle for Christmas” attacked Evangelical Christians in his news article. If Mr. Nissenbaum would stop and read the best selling most read book in history, he would know that himself and the 82 percent of Christian Americans should be evangelical in their faith as well.

The second article in the Saipan Tribune on Page 7 mentioned Irving Berlin who came to America and wrote some very famous Christmas songs and how those songs should represent true American songs because they practiced separation of Church and song. It’s amazing who Harold Meyerson would keep his job as an editor when he claimed Bill O’Reilly was blasphemes. Bill O’Reilly was not blasphemes against Americans nor against the same God of the Old Testament that Irving Berlin and all Christian’s believe in. On the contrarily, Bill O’Reilly is bringing out in the open how the ACLU is trying to kill, steel and destroy the religious freedoms that the founders of America believed in.

One legal organization made up of 800 attorneys among several legal organizations that will defend religious freedoms for companies and government agencies (school districts included and many times free of charge) is ADF or Alliance Defence Fund. Public information at the AFD (www.saychristmas.org\) says it plain and clear:

“Christmas is a cherished time of year when Americans come together and celebrate something bigger than ourselves, something that has united us for generations. An event that is the center of all history—the birth of Jesus Christ.

Surveys show that 95 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas. Yet, due to political correctness, disinformation, and even the threat of lawsuits from the ACLU and its allies, religious expression at Christmastime is increasingly absent from the public square. Slowly, this holy day is being turned into a secular “solstice season.”

The Alliance Defense Fund works year-round to preserve and protect our religious liberties, including the right to…

…sing Christmas carols at school
…pass out candy canes to classmates
…call it “Christmas vacation”
…sponsor a nativity scene on public property
…say “Merry Christmas”

ADF wants all Americans to know the Truth—that they have the freedom to celebrate Christmas publicly, joyfully, and without fear—for generations to come!”

Ray Austin
Saipan