Grow up, America!
Is there anything more offensive than a Nativity scene?
Apparently not. (I used to know Christmas was around the corner when stores put up their holiday decorations. Now I know it's Christmas when everyone starts fighting about it). According to Chicago city officials "a public Christmas festival is no place for the Christmas story."
For several years now the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest has organized a Christmas festival called the "German Christkindlmarket." This year, the organizers intend on using New Line Cinema as a sponsor by featuring a loop of their upcoming film "The Nativity Story" on televisions placed at the event.
Chicago city officials are concerned that non-Christians attending the event will be offended, and do want to appear as endorsing one religion over another.
Christina Kounelis, executive vice president with New Line, stated, "one would assume that if (people) were to go to Christkindlmarket, they'd know it is about Christmas." She said that to her knowledge no other movie advertising efforts had been turned down. In this political climate, that's a surprise!
Personally, instances like these don't bother me much. What else can I expect from a nation of the unfaithful? And I don't expect much out of a good many of my Christian brethren. They lovingly coddle a sodomite lying pastor yet protest the anti-Christmas attitude. A little consistency would be a welcomed change.
However, I'm completely embarassed to call myself an American when I reside amongst a nation of 2 year-old whiners. If playing a looped movie trailer on some televisions at a Christmas event is enough to greatly offend the populace, then God forbid anything serious ever confronts us. We'd collapse in tears like a bunch of schoolgirls.
Our national polarization is driving the populace to the brink of culture war. Immigration, gays, abortion, race, war, and religion are ripping people apart because of the growing inability for people to remain objective. It's as if our nation is experiencing one great road rage where the slightest "cutting off" in traffic can lead to violence.
Little children live in that sort of environmental tension. Simply touching another child's blocks can send the average toddler into fits of screams and tears. That sums up the sensitivity of a great many Americans.
When instructing my older children I'll often reiterate to them what I consider to be the eleventh commadment: "Thou Shalt Not Whine." Whining is different than a genuine critique. Whining is related to oversensitivity, and oversensitivity is the result of a spoiled and undisciplined people.
Not every American is like this. In fact, I'd wager the majority are more tough-skinned. But the reality is that all too many - both Christian and non - are buying into the propaganda of national media, public education, political pundits, and religious heirarchy. In other words, anybody who's selling you something. Part of staying in business, whether it be politics or modern Christianity, is to create a sense of corporate crisis; and propaganda is designed to sustain the hysteria. By feeding on the teat of national media the American psyche is being steered by an irrational element of emotionalism. This is epitomized annually each Christmas season.
I'm not concerned about national debates over Christmas. Preserving the public display of Nativity scenes is by no means a victory if the public retains its basic heart of unbelief - "a man persuaded against his will is of the same opinion still."
I understand that the project of the Kingdom of God is long-term, tedious, unglamorous, and uneventful. To be too concerned about the Christmas tradition is a misplaced emphasis in my mind. What we need is obedience, not an ostensible victory involving Christmas. It is the long-term objective which must reshape the way we view the importance of daily obedience and the futility of political bantering. R. J. Rushdoony established the Chalcedon Foundation on the protracted idea of a tough faithfulness in his very first newsletter to his small band of supporters:
Apparently not. (I used to know Christmas was around the corner when stores put up their holiday decorations. Now I know it's Christmas when everyone starts fighting about it). According to Chicago city officials "a public Christmas festival is no place for the Christmas story."
For several years now the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest has organized a Christmas festival called the "German Christkindlmarket." This year, the organizers intend on using New Line Cinema as a sponsor by featuring a loop of their upcoming film "The Nativity Story" on televisions placed at the event.
Chicago city officials are concerned that non-Christians attending the event will be offended, and do want to appear as endorsing one religion over another.
Christina Kounelis, executive vice president with New Line, stated, "one would assume that if (people) were to go to Christkindlmarket, they'd know it is about Christmas." She said that to her knowledge no other movie advertising efforts had been turned down. In this political climate, that's a surprise!
Personally, instances like these don't bother me much. What else can I expect from a nation of the unfaithful? And I don't expect much out of a good many of my Christian brethren. They lovingly coddle a sodomite lying pastor yet protest the anti-Christmas attitude. A little consistency would be a welcomed change.
However, I'm completely embarassed to call myself an American when I reside amongst a nation of 2 year-old whiners. If playing a looped movie trailer on some televisions at a Christmas event is enough to greatly offend the populace, then God forbid anything serious ever confronts us. We'd collapse in tears like a bunch of schoolgirls.
Our national polarization is driving the populace to the brink of culture war. Immigration, gays, abortion, race, war, and religion are ripping people apart because of the growing inability for people to remain objective. It's as if our nation is experiencing one great road rage where the slightest "cutting off" in traffic can lead to violence.
Little children live in that sort of environmental tension. Simply touching another child's blocks can send the average toddler into fits of screams and tears. That sums up the sensitivity of a great many Americans.
When instructing my older children I'll often reiterate to them what I consider to be the eleventh commadment: "Thou Shalt Not Whine." Whining is different than a genuine critique. Whining is related to oversensitivity, and oversensitivity is the result of a spoiled and undisciplined people.
Not every American is like this. In fact, I'd wager the majority are more tough-skinned. But the reality is that all too many - both Christian and non - are buying into the propaganda of national media, public education, political pundits, and religious heirarchy. In other words, anybody who's selling you something. Part of staying in business, whether it be politics or modern Christianity, is to create a sense of corporate crisis; and propaganda is designed to sustain the hysteria. By feeding on the teat of national media the American psyche is being steered by an irrational element of emotionalism. This is epitomized annually each Christmas season.
I'm not concerned about national debates over Christmas. Preserving the public display of Nativity scenes is by no means a victory if the public retains its basic heart of unbelief - "a man persuaded against his will is of the same opinion still."
I understand that the project of the Kingdom of God is long-term, tedious, unglamorous, and uneventful. To be too concerned about the Christmas tradition is a misplaced emphasis in my mind. What we need is obedience, not an ostensible victory involving Christmas. It is the long-term objective which must reshape the way we view the importance of daily obedience and the futility of political bantering. R. J. Rushdoony established the Chalcedon Foundation on the protracted idea of a tough faithfulness in his very first newsletter to his small band of supporters:
"This movement (the city of man) has been a long time in developing: it cannot be defeated overnight. It cannot be defeated by short-sighted people who want victory today or tomorrow, and are unwilling to support long-term battle... History has never been dominated by majorities, but only be dedicated minorities who stand unconditionally on their faith."May I offer you, the Christian, the unglamorous challenge of sustained, silent obedience? The kind of faithfulness which will destroy the gates of hell? What good is it to restore the American holiday tradition if our lives are pale reflections of Biblical order? And will God reward His people for their complaint any more than you will reward your children for whining? Don't you rather prefer the quiet obedience of your children? Then how about returning the favor to God? Let's grow up, shall we?
