Below are two letters to the Zundelsite addressing the erosion of traditional Christmas celebrations, followed by some excerpts about how Christmas (and Christians trying to celebrate Christmas in what they call the "Holy Land) are treated.
Letter # 1:
So far, Britain has suffered only small outbreaks of the PC pestilence. Two years ago Birmingham declared the Christmas season should be renamed 'Winterval' and starting calling its Christmas lights 'festive decorations'. Camden this year has followed suit.
If these zealots are allowed to propagate their message as widely as in the U.S., Christmas will become something people celebrate with some embarrassment, whispering their Christmas greetings for fear of offending anyone who doesn't have exactly the same beliefs.
Those who would seek to ban Christmas from our schools and public places are not really worried about offending other races or religions. My belief is that their main concern is to suppress a Christian message which is at odds with their own agenda.
Letter # 2:
I would like to comment on the ZGram I received today as part of my on-line subscription. A few days ago I was in our local post office in Encino, California when I noticed that there was a menorah proudly displayed against the wall but absolutely nothing about our Savior Jesus Christ whose biblical birthday is who we Christians honor this season. There was no creche or any representation at all.
I don't even know why Jews make such a humongous deal about Hannukah at all, since it was just a battle against some Syrian king. Their holiday is Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur. It seems that Jews and their allies would like this minor holiday to be on the same par as Christianity's second most sacred holiday behind Easter. I think Jews should be grateful that this once very Christian nation has elevated Hanukkah in the same scope as the Christmas season.
I know that when I go shopping and purchase my goods that I make a conscious effort to say "Please have a Merry Christmas!" I absolutely refuse to say that meaningless "Happy Holidays" that all the television stations say. There is something so much more magical and meaningful about saying Merry Christmas than any other during the Christmas season.
I was really rather astonished at this governmental agency practically endorsing Jews while omitting us Christians. I know that where I live, the majority is Jewish, but that didn't mean that the Jews would have to be so appeased.
I didn't say anything as I didn't want to make a scene. I really wanted to know why nothing representing Christ was displayed inside the post office. This may sound a little far-fetched but I wonder if there will be those vehement anti-Christian Jews who will want Jesus Christ to only displayed under glass with the caption: "Wanted for crimes against humanity." After all, Hitler didn't personally commit any killings against Jews, but some of his soldiers might have - and so with Jesus; he didn't commit any crimes against Jews, but maybe his followers did.
I just wonder if that action will be taken against our Savior.
Now come some excerpts from the London Times, December 9, 1999 by Sam Keley, The Times' Middle East Correspondent:
* CHRISTIANS expecting a welcome in the Holy Land for Christmas and the millennium will have to think again after ultra-Orthodox Haredim published a pamphlet attacking Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem and jeered at reverence for the Cross, which it compared to "worshipping an electric chair or a noose".
* The pamphlet: "The Great Forgery - The Whole Truth About the Christian Sham", warns Jews in Jerusalem that Christians are planning a "great crusade" and that thousands of missionaries were going to descend on the Holy Land "to conquer Jerusalem by pleasant means and money in order, God forbid, to destroy the people of Israel".
* The publishers said they had produced 80,000 copies of the 68-page attack on Christianity timed to warn Haredim against the Christian onslaught and persuade them not to allow Christians into their neighbourhoods and to stop them from booking hotels or having processions.
* The Jerusalem rabbinate has gone out of its way to reduce the opportunities for Christians to celebrate Christmas or the millennium. It has banned Christmas trees in public spaces in hotels and ordered that millennium and Christmas parties be held behind closed doors.
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Thought for the Day:
"Die Sonne bringt es an den Tag"
- German proverb which, translated, means that "Sun light will reveal the mischief".