Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on secularists who feed off of Christmas:

For the past couple of years, Macy’s has been brandishing the word Believe at Christmastime: the word appears in huge lights across its Herald Square store on 34th Street in New York City, and is inscribed on its shopping bags. To believe is to believe in something—it must have an object—but Macy’s prefers not to know what most people believe in at this time of year, so it allows everyone to fill in the blank. So inclusive.

For good reason, Macy’s chooses December to invoke its Believe campaign—it would make no sense to do so in June. Its latest newspaper ad comes close to telling us what to believe in, but stops short: it says, “Want to be the Ultimate Santa this season? Visit macys.com/gifts.”

Bloomingdale’s comes perilously close to using the word Christmas. Its latest ad reads:

Merry
must-haves
{Gifts $100 and Under}

There is a silly full-page ad in today’s New York Times by the atheists from Freedom From Religion Foundation called, Reason’s Greetings. The “Solstice Tribute” is appropriately vacuous, but what got our attention was the caveat at the end of the lyrical statement: it says, “May be sung to ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem.’” In other words, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” won’t suffice. Sorry Brenda.

The good news is that these secularists cannot survive without parasitically feeding off Christmas, thus giving us Christians a back-handed compliment. We’ll take it.

Merry Christmas to everyone, and most especially to all of those who will celebrate what Believe really means at this time of year.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:

The New Jersey Hall of Fame (NJHF) includes luminaries as diverse as Albert Einstein and Shaquille O’Neal. It should not be dishonored by including bigots: Catholics will be outraged to learn that of the 50 nominees for the class of 2012, Thomas Nast made the cut. Nast is not only the most bigoted cartoonist in American history, the 19th-century artist consistently inflamed hatred against the Irish and Catholics alike.

Amazingly, the NJHF’s website omits any mention of Nast’s anti-Catholic legacy. No one is denying his many talents as a creative cartoonist, but to discuss his work without mentioning his virulent anti-Catholicism is on a par with discussing filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl’s contributions without citing her role in generating anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany. Nast and Riefenstahl belong in a Bigots Hall of Shame, not in any honorary club.

Nast’s cartoons show a long and pernicious pattern of bigotry born of nativism [click here for a sampling]. He encouraged the mixing of racism and anti-Catholic bigotry in his depictions of the Irish as a race of inferior gorillas; he demonized the Church as a nefarious institution threatening America’s public schools; he depicted an attack on Fort Sumter by priests and bishops; he demonized bishops by portraying them as crocodiles with miters for jaws; and he also depicted them as emerging from slime while prowling towards children.

I have written to NJHF’s Executive Director Don Jay Smith asking that he withdraw Nast’s nomination. The NJHF bills itself as “a source of learning, inspiration and hope for children.” Thomas Nast was not a “significant and powerful” role model for children in the 19th century, and he sure is not a role model for any U.S. citizen today.

Contact Don Jay Smith: djsmith@njhalloffame.org

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on how crazy the “War on Christmas” has become:

North Korea is putting South Korea on notice, warning of “unexpected consequences” if Seoul displays Christmas lights near the border. In China last week, government officials and the police smashed the sound equipment of Christians who were about to celebrate Christmas in a village outside Beijing.

Our atheists share the same mindset, if not the same means.

In a South Carolina cancer center, a 67-year-old volunteer Santa was evicted because of the “different cultures and beliefs of the patients we care for”; it later reversed its decision. In an elementary school in Stockton, California, poinsettias were banned but somehow snowmen were permitted; they justified their censorship by saying there was a Sikh temple in the city (note: there is no evidence that Sikhs suffer apoplexy when they see poinsettias, but there is plenty of evidence that cultural fascists enjoy using them as a foil to justify their own intolerance).

A homosexual group on the campus of Washington and Jefferson College succeeded in getting the Dean to approve a condom-decorated Christmas tree. A skeleton St. Nick was found hanging from a cross on the grounds of the Loudoun County Courthouse in Leesburg, Virginia.

Most atheists are not intolerant, but rare is the atheist qua activist who is not. Unfortunately, we don’t have to look overseas to Communist nations to witness this verity. That they show up at Christmastime, as well as at Easter, is proof that their real hatred is of all things Christian.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:

Today we erected a life-size nativity scene in Central Park, on the corner of 59th and 5th; it will be up until January 3. Moreover, we did not surround it with secular symbols.

Every year we get a permit from the New York City Parks Department to display our nativity scene. We choose Central Park because it is a public forum, a place where concerts, marathons and all sorts of festivities take place. We do not seek to display our crèche on public property adjacent to City Hall, because that is the seat of government.

This needs to be said because there is considerable ignorance about this issue. For example, the New Jersey State League of Municipalities recently released a statement offering guidance to local officials planning holiday displays. “A purely religious display, especially one related to a single religion, is almost certainly unconstitutional.”

There is nothing “almost certain” about my response—they don’t know what they are talking about. If they were right, then we wouldn’t have been able to put our crèche up in Central Park. There is a difference between a public forum and a state capitol building, etc.

Clarence Thomas got it right when he lashed out at his colleagues for not accepting cases that might clarify this issue. On October 31, he said “we have learned that a crèche displayed on government property violates the Establishment Clause, except when it doesn’t. Likewise, a menorah displayed on government property violates the Establishment Clause, except when it doesn’t.” That is why he called for “a clear, workable standard.”

We hope New Yorkers and tourists alike get a chance to see our crèche. Our detractors should see it as well—it may prove to be a real epiphany.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue looks at the various strategies being used by anti-Christmas activists:

“If we can’t censor, then compete.” That’s the preferred modus operandi of many atheists out to smash Christmas. Their first instinct is to ban nativity scenes wherever they can. If that doesn’t work, then they lay claim to the same spot seeking to display their anti-Christmas message.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is the most active atheist group using this two-prong strategy. In the Mississippi State Capitol, FFRF is displaying a sign mocking religion; it is trying to do the same in the Wisconsin State Capitol. No town is too small for FFRF to infect, which is why it is waging war in places like Athens, Texas and Prineville, Oregon. Sometimes the efforts of radical atheists yield really ugly fruit: in Santa Monica, city officials used a lottery system to sort out all the requests for display on public property, the result this year being that atheists won most of the spots.

We have no problem with the tactics of the American Humanist Association: it does not seek to censor or compete—it simply posts its inoffensive message on billboards. But FFRF is cut from a different cloth, and so are the zealots at American Atheists.

Unfortunately, some government officials have taken the easy way out by electing to ban all displays. For example, last year the Catholic League protested the display of the menorah, a religious symbol, and the banning of a nativity scene, also a religious symbol, at the St. George Staten Island Ferry Terminal and in Boca Raton, Florida. This year the courageous souls who run things in both places chose to ban all displays.

There are two ways government can practice neutrality: the tolerant way, which is to allow all world religions a limited period of time to display their wares in the public square; and the intolerant way, favored by liberals, which is to censor everyone. We vote for the former.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue corrects the record about the Ku Klux Klan:

Chris Matthews of MSNBC was man enough to apologize to viewers for a comment made by reporter Thomas Roberts who took Mitt Romney to task for using the phrase “Keep America American.” Roberts said the phrase was “a rallying cry for the KKK group, and intimidation against blacks, gays and Jews.”

Just to correct the record, the Klan was founded in 1865 to intimidate blacks, Catholics and Jews, not “blacks, gays and Jews.”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:

On December 9, the Catholic League filed a formal complaint against attorney Rebekah Nett for the anti-Catholic comments made by her and her client, Naomi Isaacson. Subsequently, Isaacson, who is also a lawyer, has made more Catholic-bashing remarks. We are now filing a complaint with the Minnesota Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility against her. Below is an excerpt of her bigoted comments as reported in the Pioneer Press:

• She calls U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Nancy Dreher “Popess Dreher” and “a secret Catholic Knight Witch Hunter.”
• She calls U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis O’Brien a “dastardly Jesuit.”
• She calls the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee a “mindless numbnut [who] would follow church orders with a vengeance.”
• She accuses judges and trustees of conspiring to liquidate the company’s assets “for pennies,” saying the proceeds will go “to members of the Catholic Church.”
• She refers to a contempt-of-court order by Judge Dreher saying, “We may as well flush her papal bull order down the toilet.”
• She says the court “is an arm of the church to force the minority to be converted or face the consequences just like during the Dark and Middle Ages.”
• She calls one trustee “Grand Inquisitor.”
• She calls the attorney representing the U.S. Trustee Program a “Papal Drummer.”
• She says Judge O’Brien converted the case to Chapter 7 “on papal orders.”
• She accuses the Church of bringing illegal immigrants to America “so their population can outrun that of the Protestants and they can turn the country into another Spain.”
• She says: “The Catholic Church has millions of Jesuits working undercover around the country to fulfill the church’s agenda. They give orders, pull the strings, and their puppets like Nancy Dreher jump like zombies.”

Both Rebekah Nett and Naomi Isaacson are unrepentant bigots. They should be disbarred.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on Lowe’s decision to withdraw its sponsorship of the TLC show, “All American Muslim”:

I have not been shy in my criticism of Muslim extremists who hate Israel and equally loathe the United States. Nor have I been reluctant to condemn Islamism: Sharia law is totalitarian. Furthermore, I am not opposed to boycotting sponsors of TV shows that bash Catholicism (I have led such initiatives). But count me out when it comes to the Florida Family Association’s protest of the TLC show, “All American Muslim.” Lowe’s made a mistake when it bowed to the protest and pulled its ads from the show.

“All American Muslim” is a show about five Muslim families from Dearborn, Michigan. Does it put a positive spin on them? One would hope so. After all, what kind of appetite would it be feeding if it did the reverse? To say it should show “both sides” is equally unpersuasive: a reality TV show is not a documentary. If the show attempted to promote a positive image of Islamists, that would be a different story entirely.

The Florida Family Association says “99.9 percent of Muslims agree with the principles of Sharia law.” The figure is certainly inflated worldwide, and it is grossly overstated for American Muslims. Just as I condemn those who love to depict Catholic priests as molesters, I condemn those who love to depict American Muslims as terrorists.

Lowe’s has no record of being unfair to any segment of the population, which is to its credit. It should not take the bait and flex its muscles with those who want to paint Muslims with a broad and dirty brush. It is hardly too late to pivot.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue offers seasonal advice:

There is no shortage of advice on how to throw an office Christmas party. For example, Helene Wasserman, a Los Angeles labor-law attorney, warns it is important to call the Christmas party a “holiday party.” Human Relations specialist Suzan Sturholm is even more sensitive: she suggests naming it an “end-of-the-year celebration” (good idea—that way no one will know what they are celebrating). Attorney Duane Morris advises, “Assign certain managers to keep their eyes and ears open for individuals who appear intoxicated at the party.”

We demur. Here’s what the Catholic League counsels:

• Have an open bar
• Start with Champagne laced with Chambord
• Assign managers to keep their eyes and ears open for individuals who don’t drink
• Assign bouncers to keep an eye on the managers
• Sing “Joy to the World”
• Put a nativity scene in one corner for Christians; a Christmas tree in another for recovering Christians; a menorah in the third corner for Jews; and leave one corner empty. The latter is for atheists.
• Proselytize
• Invite everyone to join the Catholic League’s “Adopt An Atheist” campaign

Regarding our timely campaign, I couldn’t help noticing that a writer at Salon.com, Tommi Avicolli Mecca, found our initiative to be puzzling. “It’s uncertain whether it’s an attempt at satire or a real call to arms. Donohue is not known for his sense of humor about these things.”

Don’t you just love these guys? Can’t make it up! Let’s keep him guessing again about our Christmas Party rules. Maybe he’ll see that as a “real call to arms” as well.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the status of the War on Christmas this year:

For the past few years, there have been two new developments in the War on Christmas: the good news is that more people are pushing back in villages and municipalities across the nation, demanding that Christmas celebrations proceed as planned; the bad news is that militant atheists are more aggressive than ever. Overall, however, there is evidence that the pro-Christmas side is winning the day.

On the positive front, the residents of Ellwood City, Pennsylvania turned out by the hundreds on December 2 to rally in support of their nativity scene. There is a live nativity scene on city property in Minden, Louisiana, and after some initial resistance, a church handbell group will soon take command of the Springhill library’s courtyard. After a nativity scene was banned for years on the grounds of the Muskingum County Courthouse in Zanesville, Ohio, the county commissioners voted unanimously to put it back. Similarly, Wisconsin reverted back to its display of a Christmas tree at the state capitol. “Keep Christ in Christmas” is the banner that stretches across the street in Pitman, New Jersey, and attempts by atheists to censor it have failed.

On the negative front, a school counselor at an Arkansas elementary school has been told that she must remove her posting of a nativity scene on her billboard; her decoration was permitted for more than 20 years. Tulsa, Oklahoma has long had a Christmas parade, but in recent years it was renamed the Holiday parade.

But just as the people in Rhode Island sang Christmas songs at their secularized “Holiday” event, the people in Tulsa countered with their own Christmas parade. Indeed, we see more examples of the pro-Christmas side not settling for a secular outcome than its obverse. More important, when the anti-Christmas side pushes back, those doing it are activist atheists. When the pro-Christmas side pushes back, it’s a grassroots effort. In short, “Power to the People” never sounded so good.