While you’re celebrating Christmas with your family today, President Obama and his family are in Jakarta, Indonesia Hawaii — where he grew up, they say — “celebrating Christmas” as well. They will not be attending church, though. Apparently if it’s not Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his racist, communist ideology black liberation theology, the Obamas aren’t interested. And don’t forget all the Secret Service agents and others the Obamas are depriving of Christmas with their families because of their need to be in Hawaii.
Meanwhile, back at the White House, we wonder who is celebrating around a Christmas tree with ornaments that feature Mao, transvestite “Hedda Lettuce,” and Barack Obama’s face superimposed upon Mount Rushmore (see more commentary here, here, here, and here). Lest we forget, President Obama isn’t the first to toy with Christmas: Adolph Hitler did it, too (h/t Born Again Redneck).
As our president downplays and degrades one of our most treasured holidays, we remember how another president handled his first Christmas as our head of state (h/t GayPatriot, text at RedState):
More beneath the fold…
You know how leftists claim that “Merry Christmas” is offensive to non-Christians, so we should say the more secular inclusive “Happy Holidays” instead? Israeli President Shimon Peres, who is Jewish and celebrates Chanukah, apparently doesn’t think so. He’s wishing Christians a Merry Christmas:
B. Daniel Blatt (GayPatriot), who is also Jewish, wishes us all a Merry Christmas and writes:
Why should non-Christians be offended by a Christian’s sharing his or her joy in celebrating their religious holiday when they appreciate me sharing our joy in ours?
If someone wishes us a “Merry Christmas,” they speak from their heart, wanting to share the spirit of this festival (sacred to them) with us. So, let’s welcome their good Christmas wishes, even when expressed to their non-Christian fellows. . . .
Let’s learn to respect each other’s religions. We can’t do that by secularizing religious holidays. Nor by eliminating all references to sacred traditions in the public square. Let us share the joys of our tradition and use them to build bridges of understanding.
Unfortunately, on this Christmas the Jews are not receiving the same respect and good will that they are showing to others. Islamist enabler Juan Cole uses Christmas as a platform to attack Israel, blaming Israel for the plight of Palestinian Christians (h/t Legal Insurrection). Debbie Schlussel and Phyllis Chesler bring us back to reality, reminding us that it’s really the Islamists who are persecuting Palestinian Christians. I’ll quote Chesler at length:
The Jewish King David was born in Bethlehem, as was Jesus. Nevertheless, fewer and fewer Christians (and no Jews) live there year-round; pilgrims come to visit at this time of year but that’s about it. According to Benny Avni, writing in the New York Post, “fifty years ago, Christians made up 70 percent of Bethlehem’s population; today, about 15 percent…Practically the only place where the Christian population is growing is in Israel.” . . .
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Daniel Schwammenthal focuses on the persecution of Arab Christians in Bethlehem and especially on how the Western media has refused to cover this fact. When we read about the persecution of Palestinians it is only ascribed to Israel, never to Hamas, Hezbollah, or to the Palestinian Authority. The firebombing of Christian homes and of the only Christian bookstore in Bethlehem, the mass Islamic prayers in Manger Square, the intimidation of students at a Christian Bible college by Muslims who stand outside and loudly chant from the Qur’an — are all daily realities for Christians in Bethlehem. A Christian spokesman in Bethlehem says: “We have never suffered as we are now suffering.” . . .
As the world celebrates the birth of the Prince of Peace — originally a Jewish rabbi from Bethlehem-let’s be clear: In this time, Jesus would not be safe in the city where he was born, neither as a Jew nor as a Christian.
The emphasis is mine. Chesler also discusses Islamist persecution of Christians in Iraq, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, and Indonesia (where, don’t forget, our president grew up — even if our media insists otherwise). Go read the whole thing. We can only hope that Juan Cole will read it, too.
By the way, there are still some leftists who celebrate Christmas instead of just the generic holidays. Take Tim Yeager, whose 1999 article on the meaning of Christmas was republished yesterday at People’s World. For those who aren’t familiar with it, PW is the online reincarnation of the now defunct People’s Weekly World — the propaganda machine newspaper of the Communist Party USA. But I digress.
Writing in PW, Yeager makes clear that he thinks Christmas is great. Well, once we get rid of all that giving and receiving, anyway. That’s all a bit too capitalist. But he’s a huge fan of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Except, in Yeager’s “interpretation,” she’s not so much the Ever-Virgin Mother of God — she’s more like Rosa Luxemburg. And Jesus? Yeager’s a fan of him, too. But of course he’s not so much God Incarnate, the Word made flesh to dwell among us. He’s more like Karl Marx, or Vladimir Lenin, or Joseph Stalin. And that whole gospel deal? Not so much the good news of our salvation, more an early draft of the Communist Manifesto. Yeager even likes Christmas carols! Well, only one really: “O Holy Night,” written by a French socialist.
But, hey, at least he’s calling it Christmas.
It’s not my intention to bum you out this Christmas. I’m sure you’re having a great time with family and friends, and thinking about the things that are really important. If you’re like me, this is a time that you really treasure. But that’s all the more reason to be aware of those who would take that which you treasure away, and to remember and pray for those in the world — in the City of David, and in so many other places — who celebrate this day only at great personal risk to themselves. First, they came for the Jews. Then the Christians in Bethlehem. Tomorrow?
But, like I said, I’m not trying to depress you. So I’ll leave you with a Christmas miracle, relatively small and everyday in the eyes of the world, yet still a reminder that the Christ Child born over two millennia ago is still here today crying out to us from the dark.
Guest blogging at Libertarian Republican, Denise Clark (The Right Stuff) tells us how God inspired her to help him out with an everyday miracle. Noticing a couple of Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers ahead of her in line a couple weeks ago, Clark finnagled things so that she could pay for the items in their cart. She did it, she says, to thank them for the sacrifices they make for us. She also says that she probably got more from it, learned more from it, than they did.
Never doubt that something so small and mundane can be a miracle. A miracle is a sign that God is with us. Every miracle, great and small, is a reflection — but not just a reflection, more a re-presentation — of that one great miracle when God became flesh and dwelt among us so that he could prove more radically than we ever could have expected that he is with us. More than two thousand years ago, a Savior was born to us in the City of David, who is Christ the Lord. Two weeks ago at a Wal-Mart in Pennsylvania, God became flesh and dwelt among us once again.
From the Rust Belt 