41 thoughts on “Jesus ‘n’ Mo ‘n’ dueling paranoia”

  1. Ha – Ken Ham calling secularists intolerant. That’s just rich. Secularism protects beliefs!

    1. Ham and his interviewer failed to acknowledge that the atheist billboard was a direct. pushback to the constant stream of signs and billboards scolding people to “Keep Christ in Christmas.” No, we don’t have to. “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.” No, it’s not.

      Instead both of them acted as if this was both completely unprovoked — and an attack on Christmas. Yet, if you look at the AmAth billboard you’ll see that it’s in SUPPORT of Christmas. Christmas can be celebrated however you want. As you say, the tolerant approach.

      Let’s hope they continue to make Ken Ham the public face of Christianity.

      1. It says a lot when some of the slogans they are opposing are actually slogans they often use themselves…enjoy the company of your family, be charitable towards others, etc.

        Maybe that’s why they’re getting all riled up. They think the grinches really want to steal “their” holiday and in the process they completely ignore historical facts.

        1. Neither is science. Or history. Or common sense. Or logic. Or concern for others. Or human decency. Or rationality. Or tolerance. Or self-examination. Or not being clueless.

      3. the constant stream of signs and billboards scolding people to “Keep Christ in Christmas.” No, we don’t have to. “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.” No, it’s not.

        Having just dispatched the last of this year’s crop of “Happy New Year” cards, I’m wondering if I should go down the Hogswatch route next year.
        I still haven’t been able to find commercially-produced New Year cards on the high street. Ordering from someone like the British Humanist Association wouldn’t really have anything like the political impact of getting them onto the high street.

          1. W.H.Smiths and a couple of other card shops in town. There may local variations in stock.

        2. It is many years since I sent a card. I have always thought it insulting to send anything but a personally written letter even if it is brief. Then why should I contribute to the, already rich, card manufacturers.

          1. What we’ve done for some years now is compile a “round robin” type card of photos and a few notes on what we’ve been up to for the year.
            We find it a manageable compromise between mass production and personalisation. We do a run of about 30 each year.
            4 A5 pages arranged in a “trestle” format with a main photo on the cover page. Costs around 50p each at our local repro shop (I’ve no illusions about the reliability of ink jet printers that get used every 3 months – which is why I go to the repro shop).

  3. This must be some new meaning for “going ballistic” that I wasn’t aware of… because the atheist response seems to have collectively been rolling their eyeballs and then rebutting his silly claims.

    But perhaps Ken can’t afford a dictionary. Shall we have a quick whip-around so that we can get him a dictionary, preferably a version with illustrations?

  4. I’m struggling to understand this ‘war on Christmas’. Near as I can figger, if I wish someone a happy holiday, I’m actually persecuting Christians.

    1. I think the Christian’s standard for atheists is that failure to get ordained in the proper denomination and serve the Eucharist to people as you greet them constitutes persecution of Christians. And an atheist singing, “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is the ultimate blasphemy. How dare you leave the Christ out of Christmas? Then again, if that atheist then follows up with an heartfelt rendition of, “Silent Night,” then that’s just mockery.

      Or, as usual: heads, they bite your head off; tails, they burn your ass at the stake.

      b&

    3. If you’re an atheist and wish someone a merry Christmas though, you’re also persecuting Christians.

      The correct way for nonbelievers to celebrate the holiday season is by acknowledging that Christians own Christmas, Christians own America, Christians own the world, Christians own hope and love — and we’re just going to stay in our rooms and snivel. Don’t be happy; that persecutes them.

  5. Christians need to make up their minds: does the “war on Christmas” mean that not everyone says “Merry Christmas?” Or does it mean that everyone DOES say “Merry Christmas?” They keep flip-flopping, apparently in response to whatever it is the atheists are doing.

    If atheists agree that Christmas is about Jesus and therefore want the government to stay out of it — then atheists are wrong. “Happy Holidays” is evil. But if atheists agree that Christmas is a secular holiday and not necessarily about Jesus — then they’re still wrong. Only Christians should be saying “Merry Christmas.”

    But those are two different battles.

    I think they’re going to lose that last one. “Stay out of our holiday” just doesn’t have the same joyous ring as ” You leave us alone!”

    1. They lost this battle long ago. Actually there really was no battle, traditions just gradually changed. Not to mention the influence of big retailers on the Xmas traditions.

      This modern day War On Christmas™ is merely theater. It is merely one of many “memes” sown by conservative christian propagandists to instigate their base in service to their own goals of maintaining and increasing their power and wealth. Cynically, contrary to the best interests of their base. And people like Ham are merely tools.

      1. One of the battles the Christians are fighting is to identify the ‘secularization’ of Christmas with its ‘commercialization’ and the attendant consumerism and greed of the market place. By connecting warm, fuzzy, ethical aspects like charity and family to the secular, we atheists are removing one of their best talking points — i.e., that without Jesus there is nothing to the holiday but cold economic materialism.

        Technically, they really lost the battle when Christmas was officially declared a national holiday in 1870. The United States of America is diverse. Secularization was inevitable.

      2. Well there is the bit where Ham too is making a nice living off of his flock of fools.

        He’s in it for the money and the fame and whether he believes the words that come out of his mouth or not, he’s not likely to be persuaded otherwise.

    2. I reply to Happy Christmas with Happy Hanukkah.
      Most haven’t a clue If a Jew wishes me the seasonal greetings then I say happy Christmas. I love being an A H.

  6. So if the ancient Germanic peoples celebrated this gift giving holiday before their Christianization, wouldn’t Paganism be the reason for the season?

    Poor Odin gets no respect.

    1. What is funny is people regularly said “happy holidays” back in the days when no one thought about a “war on christmas” because it included Xmas & New Years. This is just funny.

      1. Yes! Thank you for saying this. And now that “holiday” decorations show up in stores as early as October, it seems an even more appropriate term.

        1. October?? What backwards hickville do you live in [/wink]? Here in Los Angeles I started seeing “holiday” decorations and merchandise this year in *late August*. Yes, as in “before Labor Day”.

  8. I know it’s been said before, but given the word holiday comes from Holy day anyway, what the $&@# is the problem with this?

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