For whatever reason, there were more raunchy Christmas plays this year than ever before. Not surprisingly, many were gay-themed, most were confined to the east and west coasts, and all were loved by art critics. The plays ran the gamut from the irreverent to the extremely vulgar.

New York City is a natural home for such fare. Naked performers were seen in “Naked Holidays NYC ‘09” and “Filthy Lucre: A Burlesque Christmas Carol”; the latter is the work of the anti-Catholic homosexual Christopher Durang. Gays also flocked to see “The Gayest Christmas Pageant Ever!” and “Santa Claus is Coming Out.” Those who wished to see baby Jesus electrocuted went to see “Hot Babes in Toyland,” while those who wanted to see a fetal rabbit morph into baby Jesus attended “A Very Sandwich Christmas.”

“XMAS!” was hosted by Columbia University; the play depicts the Virgin Mary begging for sex. “The Eight: Reindeer Monologues” was performed in Philadelphia and features a discussion of Santa raping Vixen.

On the west coast, “How the Drag Queen Stole Christmas” was shown in Oakland, and Seattle was home to “Ham for the Holidays: Lard Potion No. 9,” a play that sparkles with a “teeny-tiny Sequin Gay Men’s Chorus.” Also in Seattle was “It Came from Under the Tree!: A Pickled Puppet Christmas Special” that features nudity and a Michael Jackson character who envies Santa’s way with children.

Playing on both coasts was Mimi Imfurst’s “Madonna’s Christmas Celebration,” one that features a sexual deviant dressed in drag as the Blessed Virgin: he/she talks about the difficulty of having sex with God, and that he/she coined the phrase “Oh, my God” while having sex with him.

For some reason, we could not find a single play disrespecting Ramadan. Cowardice, of course, is a trademark of sissies.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue discusses what’s going on:

“Cindy Wigglesworth, founder of Conscious Pursuits, says Christmas represents a ‘challenge’ to employers. The so-called challenge is how to have ‘an enthused workforce and be faith-friendly and faith-neutral and not violate any laws.’ She does not say what laws might be violated, but apparently she wants to guard against the prospect of someone calling 911. In any event, she has a mind of her own: ‘We’d much rather bring your child to work than bring your faith to work. We have not had a safe way to talk about faith.’ But what if your child comes to work and tells everyone ‘Merry Christmas’? Isn’t that dangerous?

“Dawn Frazier-Bohnert works at a global consulting firm, and she advises employers not to hold a Christmas party—call it a ‘year-end’ bash, instead. She recommends ‘vegetarian alternatives’ at the dinner, ‘and be conscious that serving alcohol at parties might make some employees uncomfortable.’ There’s the rub: those who want to booze it up will also feel uncomfortable if the purists prevail. Flasks might work.

“Simma Lieberman specializes in ‘Diversity and Inclusion,’ and it shows: she wants us to celebrate ‘Diwali,’ along with non-Hindu holidays. But, she cautions, ‘Make sure your holiday party isn’t a Christmas party in disguise.’ Good idea. However, she does not say what to do if some smart aleck asks what holiday is being celebrated at Christmastime.

“Sondra Thiederman is another ‘Diversity’ expert, and she warns against Christmas decorations, recommending instead ‘flowers, balloons, candles and snowflakes.’ She also counsels against Christmas songs, suggesting ‘historical music, the big bands and the sounds of the ‘40s.’ No rap or heavy metal?

“Viacom has the best house rule: ‘Live trees solely for the purpose of a holiday decoration are not permitted.’ Those fake ones are okay.

“So this is what our troops are defending in Iraq—the right of Anti-Christmas Czars to promote thought control in America.”

The internationally known fireworks company, Grucci, has pulled out of an annual Christmas event on Long Island because the town of Patchogue decided to break with its 15-year tradition of holding a Christmas Boat Parade: This year it decided to rename the event the Patchogue Holiday Boat Parade.

Grucci vice president Phil Butler, a vocal critic of the secularization of Christmas, accused the parade’s organizers of “using all the themes of Christmas and plagiarizing all those themes.” Grucci is headquartered on Long Island.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commended Butler’s decision:

“If more people like Phil Butler stood up to the high priests of political correctness, the dumbing-down of Christmas would cease. Christmas is the only holiday that is singled out by these authoritarians. They do not object to Jewish or Muslim holidays, nor do they object to holidays like Martin Luther King Day. And they relish Kwanzaa celebrations. But when it comes to Christmas, they quickly become censors.

“So Kudos to Grucci. Let this be the first of many counterpunches thrown at the cultural fascists this year.”

Contact Phil Butler at: [email protected]

Catholic League president William Donohue addressed the growing aversion to the use of the word Christmas:

“The residents of Fontana, California celebrated their annual Festival of Winter last weekend.  Santa Claus, who is not associated with anything other than Christmas, was inexplicably present in the parade through Miller Park.  Just as curious, there was a tree lighting ceremony, though no one said why trees are lighted in December and why they always look like Christmas trees.  In Glendale, Ohio, village officials had a Holiday Walk on the Village Square last Saturday, though no one explained what holiday was being celebrated.  And in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the town sponsored ‘a series of holiday events’ that included a ‘Holiday Parade’ and ‘a Community Sing and Tree Lighting.’  Again, there was no mention of exactly what holiday these people were so happy about.

“In Michigan’s historic Village of Franklin, they used to have a Holly Day Festival this time of year.  But now they have progressed to calling it the Franklin Winter Festival.  Why?  Because as Les Gorback said (he is a prominent store owner who pushed for the name change), ‘Holly Day had the connotation it was strictly a Christmas holiday festival.’  Gorback said, ‘we wanted to try to make it more inclusive, so we changed the name.’  Why he didn’t simply move to cancel Christmas, he did not say.

“Those who think that the censoring of Christmas is a blue-state phenomenon need to consider what happened today in the Wichita Eagle.  The Kansas newspaper ran the following clarification: ‘A story in Monday’s paper referred to a tree that was lighted at Tuesday’s Winterfest celebration as a ‘Christmas tree.’  In an effort to be inclusive, the city is actually referring to this tree as the ‘Community Tree.’

“It’s time practicing Christians demanded to know from these speech code fascists precisely who it is they think they are protecting from dropping the dreaded ‘C-word.’  The assumption is, of course, that Jews and Muslims are bigots.  It’s time we heard from them as well.”

As this issue of Catalyst details, the annual Christmas war with secularists continued in 2006. The good news is that our side fought back with greater determination this past Christmas season than ever before. Our ad in the New York Times (see the November Catalyst), got us off to a quick start.

The Christmas war impacts everyone. Battles were waged in the schools, parks, malls and workplace. In many cases there was clear discrimination: menorahs were often allowed where manger scenes were prohibited. Christians are supposed to be satisfied with Christmas trees, so they say.

But unlike other years, the Catholic League was called upon more for leadership than actual combat. That’s because so many Catholics sought our advice and then took the fight to the secularists in their own backyard. This is precisely the kind of energy that has been lacking in the past.

Some of the skirmishes were over the usual stuff—workers being told not to offend anyone by saying “Merry Christmas”—and some of it was downright obscene. But whether it was political correctness or malice at work, the bottom line is that the secularists will stop at nothing in their quest for supremacy.

The Christmas wars will not be resolved until two things happen: the Supreme Court deals with this issue in a more forthright fashion than it has previously done, and Christians continue to fight back. There is so much confusion in court rulings in this area that many government officials and school superintendents opt to play it safe each year by prohibiting nativity scenes from being displayed.

The Catholic League was happy to team up with Father Benedict Groeschel in 2006 by launching our “Christmas Watch” program. We are delighted that so many in the media cited our work in news stories. We made their jobs easier. Indeed, we received more coverage than any other organization.

It never fails. Every Christmas we fight the same battles. Some are fought in the courts, while others are fought in our communities. The bigots want to eradicate Christmas.

Here’s a quick look at what’s happening already. A columnist for the Kansas City Star is angry that Christmas is starting too early for him. Muslim students in a Chicago suburb are complaining that Christmas celebrations are offensive. After the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce said it would no longer produce the Hollywood Christmas Parade (which it had for 75 years), local officials said it would save the parade but would rename it the “Hollywood Santa Parade.”

The Feds have chimed in as well. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) officials have banned religious symbols that are associated with Christmas from HUD housing. Downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee banned the nativity scene that has been there for years (it will be moved to private property). Sonoma City Council members voted to ban the crèche on its Plaza. Voters in a Detroit suburb decided against displaying a crèche at city hall. And in Fort Collins, Colorado, a city committee has recommended banning red and green lights at Christmas events.

In New York City, most politicians have refused to vote on a resolution allowing nativity scenes in the schools. Perversely, because of a tortuous court ruling, the Jewish and Islamic religious symbols are allowed. We continue to fight this issue.

Multicultural madness is on!

It is not uncommon for theaters to host dark comedies or tear-jerkers during the most fun time of the year, namely Christmastime. Psycho-type films have also been released in December. But when it comes to blood and gore flicks, they never open on Christmas Day. Unless, of course, the men behind the movie are Harvey and Bob Weinstein.

It’s not so much the plot of “Black Christmas” that bothered us—a wacko who terrorizes college girls at Christmas—it’s the fact that the Weinstein boys were back again, choosing a title and an opening date to make their latest statement.

Even in Hollywood, a town where bashing Christians is sport—and Catholics are the target of choice—the Weinsteins stand out. In 1995, they treated us to “Priest,” a film where the audience was introduced to totally dysfunctional priests, all of whom are made screwy because of the Catholic Church. “Dogma” hit the big screen in 1999, and this time viewers were treated to a descendant of Mary and Joseph who works in an abortion clinic, a foul-mouthed 13th apostle and a comment comparing Mass to lousy sex. In “40 Days and 40 Nights,” which opened during Lent of 2002, a Catholic is ridiculed for giving up sex for Lent. And in the 2002 film “The Magdalene Sisters,” the only nuns the audience meets are sadistic.

It makes sense, then, that the Weinstein tag-team would return in 2006 with their latest contribution. The fact that they chose Christmas Day to open is not by accident: They scheduled “Priest” to open on Good Friday, until, that is, the Catholic League pressured them to change the date (it opened three weeks earlier). Unlike “Black Christmas,” that film engendered a strong response from the league—the script was anti-Catholic.

Make no mistake about it, the Weinstein boys wanted “Black Christmas” to be their Christmas present to Christians.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:

For whatever reason, there are more raunchy Christmas plays this year than ever before. Not surprisingly, many are gay-themed, most are confined to the east and west coasts, and all are loved by art critics. The plays run the gamut from the irreverent to the vulgar.

New York City is a natural for such fare. Naked performers can be seen in “Naked Holidays NYC ’09” and “Filthy Lucre: A Burlesque Christmas Carol”; the latter is the work of the anti-Catholic homosexual Christopher Durang. Gays will also flock to “The Gayest Christmas Pageant Ever!” and “Santa Claus is Coming Out.” Those who want to see baby Jesus electrocuted can see “Hot Babes in Toyland,” while those who want to see a fetal rabbit morph into baby Jesus are advised to see “A Very Sandwich Christmas.”

“XMAS!” is being hosted by Columbia University; it depicts the Virgin Mary begging for sex. “The Eight: Reindeer Monologues” is being performed in Philadelphia and features a discussion of Santa raping Vixen.

On the west coast, “How the Drag Queen Stole Christmas” is being shown in Oakland, and Seattle is home to “Ham for the Holidays: Lard Potion No. 9,” a play that sparkles with a “teeny-tiny Sequin Gay Men’s Chorus.” Also in Seattle is “It Came from Under the Tree!: A Pickled Puppet Christmas Special” that features nudity and a Michael Jackson character who envies Santa’s way with children.

Playing on both coasts is “Madonna’s Christmas Celebration,” one that features a sexual deviant dressed as the Virgin Mary: he/she talks about the difficulty of having sex with God, coining the phrase “Oh, my God” while having sex with him.

For some reason, we could find not a single play disrespecting Ramadan. Cowardice, of course, is a trademark of sissies.