The greatest gift has been bequeathed to us

The greatest gift has been bequeathed to us
Posted: December 28, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern











By Star Parker


© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com





The holiday season brings an element of predictability each year into our otherwise tumultuous lives. We know what to expect. Parties, food, shopping, resolutions and debates on cable shows about the constitutionality of public displays of Nativity scenes.

So what about it? Is Christmas itself unconstitutional? Is it a religious holiday? Is it a once religious holiday that we retain because it rivals tax cuts as a stimulant to economic activity?





Do we keep Christmas as a national holiday for practical reasons? Surveys indicate that roughly 80 percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians. The country couldn't function if, on Dec. 25 each year, eight out of 10 Americans took the day off.

I think the discussions we Americans have with ourselves every year about Christmas and religion and the Constitution retain elements of self-delusion. Christmas is clearly a Christian event. Although the various means and symbols through which the holiday is celebrated have different histories and traditions, they are all associated with Christianity.

The Christmas trees that stand on the nation's ellipse and in the White House do not stand in Tel Aviv or Tokyo or Cairo. We delude ourselves to think that it is possible to remove all religious content from Christmas or that Americans want to. So, instead, we fend off relentless American Civil Liberties Union's assaults, make concessions here and there, and tacitly go on every year doing what we supposedly in principle can't do â?? recognizing the inseparability of the values that Christians brought to this land from our national being and identity.



There is the notion that a free society is a society of law and not of men. The founders of our country did as good a job as humanly possible to construct a constitutional foundation that gives our nation these characteristics. Legal barriers stand at every corner that prevent intrusion of one person on the life, liberty and property of others.

But, as we can see from experience and from what is going on today, it is impossible to have a society that is totally insulated from human judgment and values. The most beautifully constructed legal system will still need human judges to interpret the laws, and human elected officials to govern and administer.

The words may say that "All men are created equal," but we have had contentious times in our nation's history defining who is a man and what is equal. The words may say "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," but we have bitter debates today about defining life.

Certainly the drafters of our Constitution would never have dreamt that one day the definition of marriage would be a point of contention.

So, in truth we have a society of laws and men.



Perhaps we can say that, at minimum, Christmas is one day we Americans insist on setting aside to remind ourselves that who we are as a nation goes beyond the particular laws we have, but also reflects who we choose to be as human beings.

No law will force anyone to care about his neighbor, will force the fortunate to care about the unfortunate, or force the unfortunate to have the faith to continue and overcome. No law can require humility, graciousness, understanding, empathy or tolerance.

Our laws assure that no one can prevent others from "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." But our values dictate what we do with these freedoms we protect. Our laws protect us from the worst, but our values point the way to our best.

It is good that, in our free society, our values are constantly challenged. It forces us to readdress them and get back in touch with them. As I stood in a crowded line of Christmas shoppers in a department store the other day, I couldn't help but see irony as impatient customers berated the poor elderly gentleman fumbling with the computerized cash register he was trying to operate. If this is what Christmas has become, perhaps we should let the ACLU declare victory and pack away our ornaments.

We remember at Christmastime that our success hinges on our connection to that which is greater than ourselves. Through our Christian holiday we reach forth to the universal values that touch us all.

This often grates on American individualism. In the last half-century we thought we could invent programs that would solve all our social problems. Instead we made them worse. Failure is too often the only path to humility. Americans will not relinquish Christmas because of an inherent knowledge and conviction that the greatest gift we have is what has been bequeathed to us. To understand that is to be humble and to be free.

Eh, ACLU can piss me off sometimes.

Amen Torog!

It's sad to see how the vast minority can take away the things that are most precious to those of us in the majority. Did the founding fathers really want the country governed by a select few? Not according to what I interpret from the constitution. But then again, maybe if a small enough group of people find the constitution unfair, they can have that abolished too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Conservatoker

Amen Torog!

It's sad to see how the vast minority can take away the things that are most precious to those of us in the majority. Did the founding fathers really want the country governed by a select few? Not according to what I interpret from the constitution. But then again, maybe if a small enough group of people find the constitution unfair, they can have that abolished too.

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the founding farthers wanted a goverment run by the majority but with the imput and protection of its minorities, even though i find much of the anti christmas stuff by some fellow liberals as just silly, i thought you right wingers where against playing the victim.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Conservatoker

Amen Torog!

It's sad to see how the vast minority can take away the things that are most precious to those of us in the majority. Did the founding fathers really want the country governed by a select few? Not according to what I interpret from the constitution. But then again, maybe if a small enough group of people find the constitution unfair, they can have that abolished too.

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the founding farthers wanted a goverment run by the majority but with the imput and protection of its minorities, even though i find much of the anti christmas stuff by some fellow liberals as just silly, i thought you right wingers where against playing the victim, deal with it, try to change it if you want, but dont start whining.

For your information, whining is the last thing you will hear from me and victim is not even a word in my vocabulary. Dealing with it is also not an option, I will fight to protect my right to express my theological beleif to the death. The anti-Christmas crowd cannot use "protection" as an excuse. Would you expect to see a nativity scene displayed in a public square in India during late December? I surely wouldn't. It is a matter of culture and unfortunately for the fringe left, our culture stems back to that of Christianity.

Christmas is not a christian holiday.

It was practiced by the shamans and based around picking the sacred amanita muscaria mushrooms.
http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/3136.html