Hanukkah begins on December 7 at sundown and ends at nightfall on December 15. Chrismukkah begins at the same time as Hanukkah, but does not end until December 25, Christmas day. Chrismukkah is a new hybrid holiday that seeks to conflate Hanukkah and Christmas. It is a reflection of the high degree of intermarriage, especially in recent times,... [Read more...]
Denver’s annual Parade of Lights will take place on December 3rd and 4th. This year parade organizers have decided to ban the words “Merry Christmas” from all floats; Christmas songs have also been banned. The chief sponsor of the parade is KUSA-TV, the local NBC affiliate. Catholic League president William Donohue spoke to this issue... [Read more...]
A response to the ADL’s December Dilemma Guidelines for the recognition of Christmas for Public Schools Posted on the website of the Anti-Defamation League are guidelines called “December’s Dilemma.“ Essentially, the ADL proposes to public school administrators, teachers and parents guidelines that in essence banish virtually... [Read more...]
It’s been a busy year for the religious censors, especially the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Indeed, they’ve been on a tear, and with Christmas coming soon, look for things to get really mad. This country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, and nothing symbolizes this more than the Ten Commandments. That is why lawsuits aimed at... [Read more...]
As the Republican National Convention was winding down, a counter-convention event was taking place in New York that featured composer Philip Glass. Glass told a room of celebrities that the U.S. is being “taken over by religion” and that the country is being “ruled by the Bible and not the Constitution.” It is not surprising that Philip Glass... [Read more...]
Comparing Christmas, Ha-nukkah and Kwanzaa e-cards by Hallmark, American Greetings and Yahoo! Greetings, the ones by Hallmark were the most equitable in their treatment of the three holidays in 2003. There are some real problems with the other two companies. American Greetings had a slew of tasteless Christmas cards. For example, there was one where... [Read more...]
On December 25, WCBS-TV aired a story about a menorah that was vandalized on Christmas Eve in Pearl River, New York. In the course of the story, reporter Lou Young mentioned that “the menorah shares the small park here with a nativity scene and a Christmas tree in a town that is heavily Irish Catholic.” He also said, “It is probably... [Read more...]
“Bad Santa,” a movie distributed by the Disney subsidiary Miramax, opened in time for the holidays. Louis Giovino, director of communications, was given an opportunity by Miramax to preview the film. His report on the movie provided the basis for William Donohue’s statement to the media: “In a word association game, the mere... [Read more...]
At a Vatican Christmas concert, hip-hop artist Lauryn Hill read a lengthy statement blasting the Vatican for the homosexual scandal in the Catholic Church. “God has been a witness to the corruption of his leadership, of the exploitation and abuses…by the clergy,” she said. Hill told the audience to seek blessings “from God, not men,”... [Read more...]
In 2003, the Catholic League celebrated its 30th anniversary. Founded in 1973 by Jesuit scholar Father Virgil Blum, the league is dedicated to defending individual Catholics and the institutional Church against discrimination and defamation. That we spend much more time defending the Church against defamation than we do defending Catholic men and women... [Read more...]