Is it just me or does it seem like the War On Christmas comes earlier every year? For it is only August and already Elisabeth Hasselbeck is biting her nails and fretting that this will finally be the year when she is forced–at gunpoint, naturally–to celebrate Hanukkah instead.
Hasselbeck’s current beef is with the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which, after being contacted by a resident, has asked the town of Belen, New Mexico to remove their year-round nativity display or move it to private property. Which is a pretty fair thing to ask! It really is! Because if you’re not a Christian, a thing like that, sponsored by your town, is going to make you feel rather unwelcome there.
The town’s mayor, Jerah Cordova, claims that it is part of their history, as they were named for the original Bethlehem (Belen is Spanish for Bethlehem). Hasselbeck cheered Cordova on in his fight, and implored him to not give up such sacred and definitely not religious history just because all the mean non-Christians are complaining.
Sure! History is important! Names are important too! Yet, my last name supposedly means “plume of feathers” and you don’t see me going around dressed like a Vegas showgirl every day. Why? Because much like the nativity scene in Belen, that would be inappropriate.
There’s no such thing as a “War on Christmas”–the only shots fired come from those who want to make people who aren’t Christians feel unwelcome and unwanted, and feel they have a right to do so, because Jesus.
[Media Matters]Original by @robynelyse
