Wayne Besen - Author, Activist, Columnist, Public Speaker

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

(Weekly Column)

A couple of weeks ago I railed againstthe Religious Right for turning Santa Claus into a wedge issue with theirobnoxious and offensive "War on Christmas" initiative. Through a pressurecampaign, extremist groups forced major retailers, including Wal-Mart andWalgreen Co. to replace inclusive "Happy Holiday" greetings in stores withthe more in-your-face "Merry Christmas."

While I love the joyous"Christmas spirit," my main point was that the insidious purpose behind thiscampaign was to force non-Christians into paying homage to the right wing'spale-skinned, suburban, Republican Jesus. After all, if you are Jewish, anda well-meaning, broad grinned store clerk bellows, "Merry Christmas," howelse can you reply but, "Merry Christmas?"

Well, you can get intoa tit-for-tat by barking "Happy Chanukah," but that tactic gets tiresomeand silly when you are snarling at a store employee that has been orderedto greet you that way.

In response to this column, several letterwriters pilloried me by claiming I was a big liberal crybaby who was readingtoo much into this campaign. The last thing the fundamentalists would everwant to do, they pleaded, was force their beliefs on anyone. The issue, theysaid, was about religious freedom and allowing God back into the public square.

The question is, whose God?

TheLeviticus-spouting loons are now up in arms because Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn.,has said that he wants to take his Congressional oath with his hand on theKoran instead of the Bible.

This makes perfect sense, consideringa Muslim taking an oath with his hand on the Koran has infinitely more meaningto him than using another religious text. The question is why any rationalperson would object to this reasonable request? Unless, of course, the hiddenagenda is to send a message to religious minorities that Christianity isthe supreme religion in America.

The American Family Association -a group behind much of the War on Christmas farce - wasted no time launchinga campaign against Ellison. The AFA breathlessly urged supporters to "takeaction" by bullying members of Congress to "pass a law making the Bible thebook used in the swearing-in ceremony of Representatives and Senators."

Again, why would a Christian group want to compel a Muslim to swear on the Christian holy book?

Right wing columnist Dennis Prager answeredthis question on AFA's website by ranting that Ellison's use of the Koran"undermines American civilization." It is interesting that the same hystericalverbiage used to prohibit same-sex marriage has now become a club againstothers who disagree with the fundamentalists.

Prager went on to makethe outrageous claim that only one holy book represents America, even thoughthere are literally thousands of religious belief systems in this nation.

"Forgiveme, but America should not give a hoot what Keith Ellison's favorite bookis," wrote Prager. "Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serveAmerica and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in onlyone book, the Bible. If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book,don't serve in Congress."

So, there you have it in a nutshell. The"War on Christmas" and the "War on Gay Marriage" and the "War on Rep. Ellison"are cut from the same intolerant cloth. If you don’t submit to the will ofthe right wing, the penalty is persecution and exclusion from civil society.

Ifyou want to shop in December, you will say Merry Christmas and listen toSilent Night. If you want your relationship recognized, you will marry aperson of a gender approved by the AFA's Bible. If you desire serving thisnation in Congress, you must swear by a book you don't believe in. Soundslike a free country, doesn't it?

Prager and his ilk have a poor understandingof America and seek to make this nation the Christian version of Iran. Theonly time Prager makes sense is when he argues that if we allow Ellison totake an oath on the Koran, it will open the door to other religious textsin such ceremonies. But so what if this happens? It would only strengthenAmerica and our tradition of religious freedom.

In the same vein,the family of an American soldier recently killed in action had to continuefighting for his rights even after his death. They wanted to have on his marker the Wiccan symbol denoting his spiritual belief. Although his family'swishes were upheld, they should not have even been questioned.

In America, there can be no religious test for patriotism or public office,but that is exactly what busybodies like Prager are proposing. If this ruinousvision ever prevails, America, as we know it, will have ceased to exist.And I swear by that, on whatever book I so choose.

17 Comments:

Tom Delay, George Bush, Mark Foley, Richard Nixon... all of them took an oath over the Bible... but they bevehad like if they did it over "Green eggs and Ham".

The Bible is a book, a religious book with no purpose but guiding the faith of people. And by faith, people need to understand that there may not be anything historical there, but the faith may still exist because of the teachings contained there, regardless if they are fact or not.

Christmas is far from Christian, in the ancient world as well as in the present one. Santa Claus, the colors, the stories, the tradition, were instituted to change people gradually from paganism, nothing about Christmas is a "Christian" tradition per se, but because is been so long since these rituals were adopted by Christianity, that people forgot the origin.

I am growing very unconfofrtable with the idea of Christmas, is stressful, is a pretext to overindulge and buy and sale, that even makes me angry. For what I care, people can say "happy saturnalia" or "happy Mitras birth" since these are more ancient and similar.

Is not that I am a Grinch, but the so called "christians" deny history and the politics that started the start of the winter traditions, and that is called lying.
posted by Anonymous, at 12/05/2006 5:24 PM

We should silence the Christian Jihad. They are the ones who are ruining Christmas for everybody else. Sure I call it a Christmas tree instead of a holiday tree, but this is getting too far.

1. They label Happy Holidays and Season's Greetings as "politically correct". But then again, they play the PC card in order to mask their ignorance. The righties should realize that there is more than one holiday during the season: Hanukkah (sic), Kwanzaa, Eid ul-Fitr (marking the end of Ramadan), and New Year's. To semi-quote Kanye West's Hurricane Katrina remark..."They don't care about Hanukkah!"

2. I hate it when the church nazis bitch about Keith Ellison (Muslim pseudonym coming soon) taking oath with the Quran instead of the Bible. I personally beleive that no holy book should be used for oaths. Why should I take an oath on a book of lies, anyway?

Wildmon's (along with the rest of the American Fascist Association) primary objective is to get rid of anything "non-Christian". In order to do that, he uses the "War on Christmas" and Ellison's controversial oath as pretexts.

Blood From Machines
posted by Anonymous, at 12/05/2006 5:26 PM

A debate on Xtian vs. secular ideas and values took place at a three day conference titled "Beyond Belief" at the Salk Institute in southern California in early November. Participants included Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Joan Roughgarden, Carolyn Porco, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and many others. If you have DSL or cable, the complete debate can be downloaded from http://www.edge.org/
posted by Pete, at 12/05/2006 11:45 PM

One thing I don't understand about the Nazis at AFA is this: even if they managed to force Ellison to take the oath on the Christian Bible, the guy doesn't BELIEVE the Christian Bible! So how does forcing him to put on an act strengthen the morality of America? And by the way, it's almost the year 2007. Why are we still asking people to swear on a book which claims that a man spent 3 days in the belly of a whale?
posted by Chris L., at 12/06/2006 8:05 AM

Personally, I don't think a religious text should be used in any oath-taking ceremony. Naturalized citizens don't have to swear an oath on the bible pledging allegiance to this country, so neither should politicians; and why should nonbelievers be forced to swear an oath on any religious text in the first place? Its hypocrisy. While we're on the subject of hypocrisy, check out www.fallwell.com wherein you will see the many ridiculous references aimed mostly at heterosexuals and you will see how absurd and conflicted the bible really is. Interestingly, the religious bigots deliberately choose to ignore them, yet they frequently quote that other equally ridiculous reference in Leviticus supposedly condemning homosexuality. I wonder why it is that they obsess so much about our sex lives. Its obvious they're not getting any of their own.

Robert, NYC
posted by Anonymous, at 12/06/2006 8:41 AM

At least two Presidents took their oaths of office without reference to the Bible or any other religious text at all!

Reportedly, they believed that a person should be taken at their word without having to invoke God. The Bible itself enjoins Christians to "let your 'yes' mean yes, and your 'no' mean no" without making a loud commotion about it by swearing against the Temple, the Temple's gold, etc. In the instances above, they used the word "affirm" instead of "swear" and omitted the line "So help me God" at the end.

Imagine if someone did that now for whatever reason. Why, creeps like Rev. Don "Wildman" Wildmon and Dennis Prager would both have coronaries on the spot at the news. (Not a bad idea actually.)

Our Religious Right--taking religion to extremes undreamed of by our ancestors.
posted by Julian the Apostate, at 12/06/2006 9:54 AM

I have a better idea, and agree, that religious texts don't have to be sworn on.
How about our flag? Folded in a manner a little different than the end of day or end of life way?
With a replica of the Constitution under it?

Those items represent ALL OF US.
E PLURIBUS UNUM.
These are what those in office are swearing to uphold, protect and respect.
In that way it won't matter what their religious affiliation, cultural origin or sexual orientation.
E PLURIBUS UNUM is EXACTLY what we are here.
posted by Regan, at 12/06/2006 11:15 AM

Wayne, it's spelled Wiccan--but the Goddess will forgive you! (smile).
It would be great to see a Pagan/Witch win an election and take the oath on the Book of Shadows with a big juicy Pentagram on the cover. The 'christian' reich would have bloody stools and projectile vomiting over that one.
Laugh....
posted by Anonymous, at 12/06/2006 12:19 PM

Okay, I never thought that I'd laugh at the thought of bloody stools and projectile vomiting! There really is a first time for everything!

Thanks! I needed that....
Patty
posted by Anonymous, at 12/06/2006 4:27 PM

I'm a Christian and I want Ellison to take an oath on the Quran.

The whole point of the Bible to emphasize the solemnity of the event and to also remind the inductee that he is swearing an oath and that God is watching. If he's swearing on the Bible, he might not consider that an adequate inducement to uphold his vows. But if he was swearing on the book that he believes is his guide to God, I think he's more likely to treat this more seriously.

Maybe a religious text will not ensure that an oath will be kept or even taken seriously. But if the inductee is religious or has a belief structure, it can't hurt.
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