It is true- just ask our lunatic friends on the far right:
This month, as in every December since he took office, President Bush sent out cards with a generic end-of-the-year message, wishing 1.4 million of his close friends and supporters a happy “holiday season.”
Many people are thrilled to get a White House Christmas card, no matter what the greeting inside. But some conservative Christians are reacting as if Bush stuck coal in their stockings.
“This clearly demonstrates that the Bush administration has suffered a loss of will and that they have capitulated to the worst elements in our culture,” said William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.
Bush “claims to be a born-again, evangelical Christian. But he sure doesn’t act like one,” said Joseph Farah, editor of the conservative Web site WorldNetDaily.com. “I threw out my White House card as soon as I got it.”
You have to read the whole thing to get the full taste of lunacy from these folks. And it is funny- their approach to everything is evident in this piece. The uncontrolled anger and rage, the sense of betrayal, the exclusivity, the inability to recognize their are others out there who might celebrate the ‘Holidays’ differently than they do, and that Bush must answer to those people as well.
And it would be also wise to keep in mind that these are the folks whose religious beliefs dictate to them that intelligent design is a scientific theory, that the goal of Middle East policy is the rapture, that stem cell research is tantamount to murder, that they should have the right to determine your end of life decisions, that they should be able to refuse to fill your prescriptions at the pharmacy, that they should have the right to dictate who you date, who you have sex with, how you have sex, and who and how you marry, as well as any number of other things. And they have had an overly active say in running the show in this administration.
DougJ
Why do you hate Christmas, John?
Jason
it would be also wise to keep in mind that these are the folks… who think that the goal of Middle East policy is the rapture… have had an overly active say in running the show in this administration.
Geez, John… I know this is your morning gift to the groundlings, but seriously, who is the person with the President’s ear that is trying to bring about the rapture?
Remember, just because Bill Moyers says it doesn’t mean that it’s true.
John Cole
OK. You tell me Joseph Farah and company DON’T believe in the Rapture.
Shygetz
Wow, Jason, nice use of the ellipsis. You seem to have that tactic down pretty well.
As soon as you can convince me that Sciavo, stem cells, the ID “controversy”, and DOMA all didn’t happen, then I will believe that religious nut-jobs don’t have too much influence in this White House.
Steve
I hate to break up the Rapture, but wasn’t DOMA signed by Clinton?
Krista
(Wild applause). Huzzah! That was an excellent, excellent rant. Thank you, John, for the succinct summary of the mindset of those evangelical bullies.
Ancient Purple
That would be James Dobson. Perhaps you have heard of him.
demimondian
Why aren’t we hearing about the good things that the lunatic friends on the right are doing?
Faux News
Speaking of “end times”, I heard the new Charlie Brown Christmas show will take place in Provincetown, MA where Peppermint Patty will finally marry her “friend” Marcia.
Jason
Thanks, John… didn’t even bother to address the question. Sure, Farah is an evangelical, but where’s his link to the White House? Where’s your proof that he influenced the Bush White House to pursue a “Bring-About-the-Rapture” policy? As far as I can tell, that link doesn’t exist.
And Shygetz, I’m sorry that my use of ellipses has bruised your fragile sensibilities, but I used them simply to succinctly get to the point. I don’t disagree that the White House has largely been on the wrong side of the debate in the ID controversy, stem cell research (although I find the messianic claims of the other side to be equally disingenuous), and the Terri Schiavo situation.
But the Rapture thing is garbage, and John knows better.
Krista
“I Marcia, take thee, Sir…”
neil
If only it wasn’t for people like Armando, John would be voting Democrat by now…
Faux News
“I Marcia, take thee, Sir…
LOL. I guess we know who is the “butch” in that relationship.
ET
Evangelicals and the like wonder why they feel dissed? This is a prime example. I would have more respect for them if they didn’t look like loony toons. I am so tired of their persecution complex and am wondering when it reaches the point of a pathology they need to seek medical help for.
War on Christmas my Aunt Fanny. Heck – September (and getting earlier) to December is all about Christmas or at least the secular and capitalist buying-presents crap part of it. They should be more concerend with that than supposed slights of the lawn decorations and greeting card words.
This is just the next spasm in the desire to turn America into some sort of Evangelical utopia where everyone adheres to their version of Christianity.
John Cole
Jason-
I firmly believe there are people who are close to the President who do believe in the Rapture. it may not be borne out in policy, and I don’t think Bush and company believe it, but these folks sure do:
These folks believe in the rapture, these folks have Bush’s ear. I find that troubling, despite your quibbling.
Lines
Hey, if Jason wants to believe that Dobson and company don’t have the phone number to the White House, thats fine. It’s his right to ignore all evidence against him.
And John, don’t you know that this War on Christmas is being led by Saddam Hussein?
Richard Bottoms
Quite correct.
They are called Republicans and it’s why I am a Democrat.
Jim Allen
“Marcie”. “Marcia” was a Brady.
Perry Como
It looks like the left is winning the War on Christmas:
BIRDZILLA
More and more we get more mindless blabbering from the liberal wussies
Krista
I think it’s already there. And I don’t think the cries of persecution will ever stop until they’ve pretty much eradicated liberal secularism from all but the very fringes of society. To them, “persecution” means not having everything their way.
In the meantime, Christians of 250 A.D., Salem women of 1692, and German Jews during Hitler’s reign (amongst others) are rolling in their graves.
Krista
Marcia Brady was gay? :)
Cyrus
Yes, maybe John should have been more careful with his choice of words. (Although evangelicals having too much of a voice in the government doesn’t have to be a partisan issue for it to be scary.) DOMA was certainly bad and Clinton shouldn’t have caved (or even worse, actually believed in it). But there’s a big difference between Clinton signing DOMA as a federal law almost ten years ago, before even civil unions existed in this country, and Bush supporting an amendment to the constitution that would have actively banned SSM just a little bit more than one year ago.
Steve S
Jason – You’re not serious are you?
Or are you simply trying to distance the President from his wingnut supporters because it would make you feel bad to know you supported this religious idiocy?
So the Intelligent Design thing? That’s not part of mainstream Republicanism?
Give me a break. What are you 17 years old or something?
Reid
The Commander-in-Chief of the War on Christmas? FOX News is promoting that they are going to show a virgin birth, live on TV tonight: Bill O’Reilly is going to have a cow.
Larry
So, is W trying to bring peace or immolation to Israel?
Let’s ask him in public.
Dave Ruddell
I believe it’s peace then immolation. There’s a sequence to these things you know…
Richard Bottoms
It does warm my heart to watch the lunatics in control of the Republican party make people like Jone squirm.
If he is uncomfortable, then the swing voters, the 3% or 4% that helped vote this dumbass back into office must be sick with buyers remorse.
To quote The Simpsons: Ha, Ha.
DougJ
I’m waiting for the speech under the “Plan For Rapture” banner.
Dave Ruddell
How about if the banner reads “Family love Rapture”
(any AD fans here?)
Opus
C’mon guys, at least there’s some good news about The Rapture.
After The Rapture, we get all their stuff!
JWeidner
So here’s a line from the same article, a little later…
I don’t know about anyone else, but I find it hard to believe that of the entire population of the US, only 4% are Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist…basically anything but Christian.
Donohue is an asshat. As are the rest of these Fundies screaming about a War on Christmas.
Krista
I like this cartoon (http://cartoonbox.slate.com/hottopic/?image=14&topicid=66) it puts the whole Christmas debate quite beautifully. And if Bush does hate Christmas, no wonder — evidently he has to host 26 holiday parties.
Sorry about not creating a proper link — it wouldn’t work for me, oddly enough.
DougH (aka cats22)
Similarly judgemental, one must suspect, is the Ford
Motor Co’s recent decision to eliminate (or, you might
say, ‘knock out’) advertising in gay-oriented publications.
I’ll bet they’ll still ’em sell cars, though!
Krista
He said that they celebrate Christmas, not that they’re necessarily Christian. For a lot of people, Christmas is about Santa, gifts, stuffing yourself with food, and arguing with your family.
I celebrate Christmas, and I’m Agnostic (baptized Catholic). I celebrate it because I was brought up with it. And for me, Christmas is about being with your loved ones, being kind to each other, and working towards peace on earth. It’s not about religious dogma, or about telling other people that they’re destroying Christmas because they dont’ celebrate it the same way I do.
yet another jeff
I really don’t think that Bill O’Reilly having a cow would count…he’s not a virgin. Giving birth to a loofa, maybe….
Damn, too bad the Dems are wrong about the war, guess folks will have no choice but to vote for Dobsonites in 2006.
jenny
Finally!! Hopefully the country can see that the FAR right as just as stupid as the FAR left!!
SeesThroughIt
I can’t believe these idiots are actually serious. Then again, I can completely believe that these idiots are actually serious because, well, there’s nothing too stupid for them to morally grandstand about. Why can’t Zombie Jebus come back to Earth and eath James Dobson’s face off?
Nice cartoon, Krista. I also like this one.
jg
Ladies and gentleman I give you the american muttawa.
Krista
That was succinctly put. Unfortunately, the far right and the far left tend to get all of the airtime and print inches because: 1. they’re more attention-grabbing, 2. they tend to speak in provocative, catchy sound-bites, 3. it takes too much time and effort for people to listen to (or read about) a nuanced, well-thought-out argument.
Maybe I’m idealizing the past, but it just seems that people used to actually analyze their news and not be as suckered in by slogans, sound bites and “infotainment.”
Shygetz
Jason said:
Apology accepted.
And I was mistaken when I earlier mentioned DOMA instead of the proposed Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. My bad.
The Disenfranchised Voter
Hahahha. Anything that pisses off the editor of WorldNetDaily.com is priceless IMO.
skip
Jason asks, “who is the person with the President’s ear that is trying to bring about the rapture?”
If you define rapture as the restored Kingdom of David, which Evangelicals and necons both do (the former religiously, the latter geopolitically), take your bloody pick.
Scarpy
This whole “war on Christmas” BS makes me madder than anything else the right has done lately, and that’s saying a lot. I guess it’s because this is COMPLETE BS, with no policy rationale, nothing behind it but pure hatred and cynicism. People like O’Reilly, Gibson, Farah, Donohue want only to ruin the holidays for the entire country, so that they can further alienate liberal types.
Donohue says 96% of the country celebrates Christmas? And 96% of the country is that pathetic and impotent as to roll over year after year to the almighty 4%? Reminds me of the most powerful Jews in the world at the Air Force Academy.
This persecuted Christian act is past irritating and now crossing over to dangerous. Liberals need to start taking shooting lessons, because when people get this crazy, this unhinged, they’re not far from violence.
chef
I don’t hate Christmas, but I do hate:
I saw momma kissing Santa Claus
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
Here Comes Santa Claus Right Down Santa Claus Lane
The Chipmunk Song
Amal and the Night Visitors
The best Xmas song: Ave Verum, and I’m sure Wolfgang will be relieved to hear he edged out The Little Drummer Boy.
jg
The Chipmunk Song rocks! Only a communist would hate that somg. :)
Shygetz
Breaking! chef delares War on Chipmunks!
How dare you sully my fond childhood memories!
And I’m still waiting on that damn hula-hoop…
knayte
What’s funny about this is that right above the Happy Holidays message was a verse from the Psalms. But I guess that doesn’t prove your Christian bonafides unless you say Merry Christmas, as well.
ape
As a secularist, I get midly peaved at people from my own side campaigning against the use of the word ‘Christmas’.
(This lets the side down. Apart from a very few incidents, the complaints about the term come purely from other religious groups, so that the xtian claim of ‘secularisation’ is absurd).
Surely we can all agree that the label is not so important. Both secularist and xtian (so they say) believe that it is a label for an entirely secular orgy of consumerism & fun of all kinds. Which is a very good thing.
Forget the label – there were midwinter festivals in all cultures before xtianity, as there are after it. The Catholic Church spatchcocked its mythologies onto local traditions wherever it found them (thus the proliferation of martyrs & saints; mostly local ‘deities’ whose enoblement was basically limited to a rebranding of the local festival/ square/ temple etc..)
As to the influence of the Religious Right on the GOP & Dubya, this seems to be a perennial question. It’s time someone did some serious research to settle the matter. Does anyone know of any?
There used to be stories about the % of number of Republican State Cttees controled by Christian Coalition members. This would be good evidence to prove the case positively. Here’s an example (from 2002?): http://www.natreformassn.org/statesman/02/chrepub.html
It says 18 out of 50 states.
This secular site has graphs that purports to demonstrate the link, though it won’t convince many beyond the banal statement “the GOP is more religious than DP”:
http://www.theocracywatch.org/
My contention would be that it is absurd to claim that Bush is not in thrall to the Fundies. At his inauguration, he said, “Do you not think an Angel rides in the Whirlwind and directs this Storm?”
What does that mean to the secular? His speechwriter for that was is an affirmed evangelical with a degree in Theology.
docG
The answer is printed on a Kinky Friedman t-shirt:
“May the God of your choice bless you!”
Krista
knayte – Is that whole, “you’re with us or you’re against us” mentality that Bush has fostered so well. Now, the hardcore rightwing Christian groups to whom he has been pandering, are flipping out any time he deviates from their script.
Ever read the short story, “Sometimes They Come Back” by Stephen King? Sometimes, that which you summon to fight your enemy becomes a bigger burden than your enemy was…
Pug
Two questions:
Why the hell does Joseph Farah get a Christmas card from the White House? Why?
Why are Bill O’Reilly, John Gibson and the rest of the yahoos able to ruin Christmas for everybody?
OK, three questions, but I had to ask the Joe Farah question twice for dramatic effect.
The Disenfranchised Voter
Who are you even talking about?
Who the hell is campaigning against the use of the word Christmas? This whole issue is completely one-sided. The Constitution is a secular document, however, I by no means care if they call it a Christmas tree or if people say Merry Christmas, and most people don’t. Even the ACLU has said they don’t care if it is called a Christmas tree, so who exactly are you refering to when you talk about “your side” campaigning against the use of the word Christmas.
That is total bullshit. An almost non-existent minority complain about the use of the word Christmas. The religious right are delusional and apparently you aren’t far off either.
Lines
Capitalists at the top of holiday consumer oriented businesses are the ones that made the stores change their signs and such to “Happy Holidays” with little to almost no pressure from secular groups. They saw it as a possible way to stay out of a minor fray while making a slight bit more money than they were before. They saw this as a win-win, and so far they are right. Secular groups are taking the heat about the stores changing their signs and greetings, while they were barely even aware that the change had been made. They have made excellent scapegoats and the stores that supply our greed stand to make more money.
The only losers in all of this are the secularists that asked if local government should be displaying religious beliefs using tax-payer dollars.
Don
What really makes me giggle about the whole thing is that we have a group of people who think it’s Wrong that others are supposedly offended at hearing a word – Christmas. (Never mind that I have rarely in my life come across such people, despite spending time with many athiests, agnostics and other Folk of Ill Repute)
These same people have gotten themselves all worked up over what someone ISN’T saying.
Now that’s amusing.
Call me insane
Can anyone please tell me the difference between the Nazis, the KKK, and the Conservative Christian Right? I am having a lot of trouble figuring that one out. The fact that this is an issue is just embarrassing. Don’t these people have bigger issues to whine about?
Steve S
What makes me giggle is how Politically Correct they are. If you use “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”, they intend on boycotting you.
ape
Disenfranchised voter –
Secularists opposing ‘Christmas’? There have been examples (eg, this year at the London School of Economics).
But fundies CLAIMING we do – that happens all the time. In fact, whenever there are protests in favour of ‘political correctness’ (which is mostly, of course, imaginary) they come from other religious groups, eg, this year, Hindus complaining that the UK’s Christmas stamps were offensive to them.
I’m pretty sure Muslims make such claims too.
The case is similiar to the total absurdity of the new ‘Red Diamond’ to replace the Red Cross. The reasons behind this are entirely to do with fundamentalist religion (Islam) and its associated anti-semitism:
Islamists insisted on a ‘Red Crescent’ instead of the Cross. Then the Israelis decided to use the Star of David. But the Islamists complained, saying it was a political symbol of oppression. Then the US Red Cross divorced itself from the ICRC because of its refusal to accept Israel’s franchise. Now there is a proposal for a Diamond for all. Pretty absurd, huh? (Especially given that the aim here is to achieve a universally recognised livery for humanitarian workers!). And it’s the fault of religion.
But don’t think the xtian right won’t let the facts get in the way of a good jeremiad: they’ll claim the proposal is ‘political correctness gone mad’ in ‘an ever-more secular world’, sure as eggs.
Chris
Hey, O’Reilly isn’t so batshit-crazy persecution complexed as to actually take on his employer, lol. Here’s Murdoch waging god-damned jihad on Xmas.
http://www.gawker.com/news/20051207newscorpxmas.jpg
The Disenfranchised Voter
Uhhh, this is America, not the uk. There have not been any examples in America.
Also you should noted that your country isn’t a secular one. Ours is.