Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
While many retailers who once eschewed the word “Christmas” have since changed their minds after experiencing dents in their bottom line, other establishments are still holding on to their PC dogma in spite of how tired the public has become with their misguided Christmas pogroms.
The latest “Bah Humbug” proprietors were detailed in a recent post by the Family Research Council (FRC) which reported on an edict issued by Lake Ridge Commons, an apartment complex for seniors in Wilmington, North Carolina. Managers sent out instructions to residents asking them not to put up Christmas decorations this year because they may offend their neighbors.
In a missive issued by complex management, residents were told that the ban “ . . . [I]ncludes, but is not limited to door decorations, wreaths, signs, etc. Please remove immediately all personal items from entry doors.”
Of course, residents were furious and went straight to the press.
“We had door decorating contests, wrapping paper covered doors, festive wreaths,” Leigh Bowser told WECT TV. “Now, Christmas is illegal. Any display of Christmas is banned.”
Bowser defied the order and hung a small wreath on his door. “It’s part of my religion. It’s part of my expression. … This could be my last Christmas. This whole ordeal has taken years off my life.”
Residents sent letters demanding that the policy be reversed but to no avail. Instead, they received a letter from Ann Hanson, president of Excel Properties, saying that they have been advised by their legal counsel to adhere to their lease to the fullest, saying that the missive is “not intended to hurt the holiday season but to preserve it.”
As the FRC retorts, “Preserve it where? In a dark closet?”
News Break! The era of Christmas-shaming ended a while ago and the only thing this apartment complex gained out of its silly new standards is a lot of negative publicity.
Colleges and universities, as full as they are of “safe spaces” and “puppy petting areas” for ideologically sensitive students (we can’t call them snowflakes anymore because they claim it’s offensive and harms their mental health) has also failed to get the memo that banning Christmas is getting old.
At the University of California-Irvine (UC), they now have a list of pre-approved party themes – Fall, Winter or Spring.
“Focus on celebrating a special occasion instead of a specific holiday,” UC officials insist in their rules for “planning inclusive celebrations.”
That makes Christmas a non-starter, which means if a student wants to wish a fellow student Merry Christmas, it has to be “I wish you a merry non-religious specific day off of winter.”
You can’t make this stuff up.
Not even millennials are on board with this inanity. Consider this op-ed by the young and very successful Katherine “Kat” Timpf, a reporter for the National Review.
“It’s obviously a good thing to be sensitive to people of all religions, but a certain point, things can go too far. Many college campuses have certainly reached that point, and I’m saying this as someone who isn’t even religious.”
She continues: “If the tree in question is a Christmas tree, then we should be able to call it that — because, well, that’s what it’s called. That really isn’t even a religious issue so much as it is a vocabulary one. Seriously, try it: Next time you see a pine tree with a bunch of lights and ornaments on it, ask the person closest to you to tell you what it’s called. I guarantee you that they will a) say ‘Christmas tree’ and b) look at you like you’re an idiot, because literally everyone knows that.”
This inanity is impressing no one, nor is it surprising anyone.
But, as FRC president Tony Perkins points out, it shouldn’t because the war against Christmas is as old as Jesus Himself.
“Take the wise men, for instance. They were as politically incorrect as it gets. In searching for Jesus, they went to the local government, of all places, hoping King Herod would share their joy. Boy, were they wrong! Although he seemed accepting, secretly he wanted to kill the child. Fortunately, the magi were warned that Herod’s real agenda wasn’t worshipping Jesus — it was destroying Him. I guess some things never change.”
They just get old.
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