Huckabee and Merry Christmas

It would appear that Mike Huckabee is a man of great courage. He had the audacity to say "merry Christmas" in his latest political add and actually point out who the Christmas holiday is actually referring to! Doesn’t he know that he is in for a lot of criticism? Hasn’t he gotten the memo, the one that said that Christianity has been marginalized and doesn’t belong in public life?

Criticism

Yes, the sensitivity police have jumped on this situation. There is even the suggestion that parts of the book shelf in the background of the add are shaped like a cross, thus sending a subliminal message! (If someone was openly talking about Jesus Christ in an add why would he use subliminal images?) The critics are talking about this as if it were a violation of the separation of Church and state. Joanna Weiss of the Boston Globe writes "The implied message, observers say, seems to be twofold: that there is one important religion and one candidate who represents it best."(1)

Secular paranoia

I think those observers are wrong. They are merely reading their own insecurities into the situation. They are so afraid of theocracies they feel that any public mention of religion is a seed for religious oppression or that any religious expression in synch with the majority of the spiritual sentiments of much of the population is tantamount to triumphalism. But all Huckabee is doing is extending a Christmas greeting to the vast majority of Americans who have at least some knowledge of what Christmas is supposed to be about. Whatever the founding fathers meant by separation of church and state, they did not mean that the majority had to hide their spiritual sentiments.

Fine response

I like the way Huckabee responded. He didn’t respond with anger and venom. He used humor to respond as well as reason and tact. In doing so he went against the stereotype of the fundamentalist fanatic, thus making it harder for the critics. It is a fine example of the Christian patience in the face of unfair attacks that our Lord desires us to exibit.

Christians here to stay

Whether the secularists like it or not, the majority of Americans are at least nominally Christian and many are devoutly so. We are not going anywhere.It’s been that way since the founding of the colonies. It is all well and good to be sensitive to religious minorities, it is the right thing to do. But why can’t the sensibilities of the majority also be respected?

Boston Globe, Dec. 19 , 2007, p. A17