Perhaps you’ve recently heard about the city of Fort Collins, Colorado, which earlier this year formed a Holiday Display Task Force to review the municipality’s longstanding policy regarding outdoor holiday displays on public property. As the Task Force set
out to do its work, it acknowledged that Fort Collins has grown over the years to become a “dynamic, culturally diverse community” that is now “home to people of many religious and cultural beliefs and traditions, including Christian, Jew, Hindu, Baha’i, Buddhist, Wiccan, atheist and Muslim, among others.” The Task Force went on to note that “city residents celebrate a variety of winter holidays, such as Christmas, Hanukkah, Diwali, Birth of Bahu’u’llah, Bhodi Day, the Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa and more.” Furthermore, in an effort to make all residents feel “valued, welcomed and included”, the group sought to come up with a plan that would unite all residents in a generic wintertime seasonal celebration that would be inclusive to all. So, here (in part) is 
what they came up with. First, they advocated the “decreased use of decorated greenery that carries connotations of particular holidays; for instance, removing red ribbons from wreaths and removing stars and ornaments from trees.” Then, they recommended that the exteriors of city buildings be decorated with “white (rather than colored) lights, secular winter symbols not associated with any particular holiday (snowflakes, icicles, etc.), and unadorned garlands of greenery (not decorated with ribbons or ornaments).” The group went on to say that “it is important to have an environment that communicates a welcoming message to all who enter these common areas, regardless of the holidays they may or may not celebrate.”
Bah! Humbug! Who was on that Task Force? Grinch and Scrooge? How about Lenin and Marx? Sounds like somebody had an agenda. Without coming right out and saying it, what they were
clearly trying to do--under the guise of inclusiveness and tolerance--was eradicate every vestige of Christmas from the public square. Not content with taking Christ out of Christmas (i.e., secularizing a holy day for Christians) they were seeking to wipe out the holiday altogether, even though reportedly an overwhelming majority of the city’s residents preferred to maintain the traditional focus on Christmas.
Fortunately, common sense ultimately prevailed. The Fort Collins City Council, under heavy public pressure and intense media attention, soundly rejected the recommendations of the Task Force by a vote of 6 to 1. So, Christmas is still safe in Fort Collins…at least for now. But reading stuff like this just makes you wonder where our country is headed. Just think what would have happened had Fort Collins chosen to adopt this anti-Christmas (and, in essence, anti-Christianity) policy. Just think what it would be like if every municipality in the nation chose to ban all public displays of Christmas. Kind of scary, isn’t it?
There was another public official that long ago sought to wipe out Christmas. His name was King Herod. He was the original Grinch. When he first received news of the birth of the Christ child, he felt threatened and responded with hostility. Unlike those wise men who joyfully sought to worship Bethlehem’s babe, Herod was filled with nothing but utter distain for the newborn king. In his mind, the birth of Jesus was not something to celebrate. Rather, it was something to obliterate. So Herod mobilized the powers of government to wipe out every trace of this little king ever having been born. He sent out his murderous minions on a mission of mass extermination. In a powerful precursor to the Holocaust, countless innocent infants were slaughtered…but not the One they were after. By God’s grace, Jesus survived…and so did His mission of redemption to a lost and dying world.
Since the time of Christ, many secularists have tried to do away with Christmas. It’s nothing new. Many Communist countries —being officially atheistic— have long prohibited their citizens from acknowledging and celebrating the birth of Jesus. But I never dreamed I would see a movement like this gaining traction in the United States of America, of all places. It’s just another example of political correctness run amuck. When will thinking people wake up and smell the coffee, recognizing how utterly absurd all of this p.c. nonsense really is?
Anyway, while the ultimate news out of Fort Collins wound up being positive, this whole bizarre episode just makes me thankful that I live in a place like Danville, Virginia.
Pastor Danny
out to do its work, it acknowledged that Fort Collins has grown over the years to become a “dynamic, culturally diverse community” that is now “home to people of many religious and cultural beliefs and traditions, including Christian, Jew, Hindu, Baha’i, Buddhist, Wiccan, atheist and Muslim, among others.” The Task Force went on to note that “city residents celebrate a variety of winter holidays, such as Christmas, Hanukkah, Diwali, Birth of Bahu’u’llah, Bhodi Day, the Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa and more.” Furthermore, in an effort to make all residents feel “valued, welcomed and included”, the group sought to come up with a plan that would unite all residents in a generic wintertime seasonal celebration that would be inclusive to all. So, here (in part) is 
what they came up with. First, they advocated the “decreased use of decorated greenery that carries connotations of particular holidays; for instance, removing red ribbons from wreaths and removing stars and ornaments from trees.” Then, they recommended that the exteriors of city buildings be decorated with “white (rather than colored) lights, secular winter symbols not associated with any particular holiday (snowflakes, icicles, etc.), and unadorned garlands of greenery (not decorated with ribbons or ornaments).” The group went on to say that “it is important to have an environment that communicates a welcoming message to all who enter these common areas, regardless of the holidays they may or may not celebrate.”Bah! Humbug! Who was on that Task Force? Grinch and Scrooge? How about Lenin and Marx? Sounds like somebody had an agenda. Without coming right out and saying it, what they were
clearly trying to do--under the guise of inclusiveness and tolerance--was eradicate every vestige of Christmas from the public square. Not content with taking Christ out of Christmas (i.e., secularizing a holy day for Christians) they were seeking to wipe out the holiday altogether, even though reportedly an overwhelming majority of the city’s residents preferred to maintain the traditional focus on Christmas.Fortunately, common sense ultimately prevailed. The Fort Collins City Council, under heavy public pressure and intense media attention, soundly rejected the recommendations of the Task Force by a vote of 6 to 1. So, Christmas is still safe in Fort Collins…at least for now. But reading stuff like this just makes you wonder where our country is headed. Just think what would have happened had Fort Collins chosen to adopt this anti-Christmas (and, in essence, anti-Christianity) policy. Just think what it would be like if every municipality in the nation chose to ban all public displays of Christmas. Kind of scary, isn’t it?
There was another public official that long ago sought to wipe out Christmas. His name was King Herod. He was the original Grinch. When he first received news of the birth of the Christ child, he felt threatened and responded with hostility. Unlike those wise men who joyfully sought to worship Bethlehem’s babe, Herod was filled with nothing but utter distain for the newborn king. In his mind, the birth of Jesus was not something to celebrate. Rather, it was something to obliterate. So Herod mobilized the powers of government to wipe out every trace of this little king ever having been born. He sent out his murderous minions on a mission of mass extermination. In a powerful precursor to the Holocaust, countless innocent infants were slaughtered…but not the One they were after. By God’s grace, Jesus survived…and so did His mission of redemption to a lost and dying world.
Since the time of Christ, many secularists have tried to do away with Christmas. It’s nothing new. Many Communist countries —being officially atheistic— have long prohibited their citizens from acknowledging and celebrating the birth of Jesus. But I never dreamed I would see a movement like this gaining traction in the United States of America, of all places. It’s just another example of political correctness run amuck. When will thinking people wake up and smell the coffee, recognizing how utterly absurd all of this p.c. nonsense really is?Anyway, while the ultimate news out of Fort Collins wound up being positive, this whole bizarre episode just makes me thankful that I live in a place like Danville, Virginia.
Pastor Danny
