‘Tis the season…to be divided? While the U.S. fights two wars, struggles with record high unemployment, and deals with a budget crisis, some Americans say that the real war this time of year is the ‘War on Christmas.’
Fox News has covered this alleged war for years now, stirring up tensions between those who want religion to pervade all aspects of private and public life, and those who prefer a complete separation of church and state. Fox News Anchor Gretchen Carlson expressed her outrage at atheist signs this time of year by saying that some groups are “just trying to push Jesus to the back seat on Christmas day.” Just in time to enrage those Fox News anchors, the American Humanist Association has released ads calling on Americans to “consider humanism." Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the AHA, told RT: “When they see these ads, it does give them pause. It gives them a chance to think about the issue.” On the opposite side of humanity, however religious groups are fighting back. A new website called www.GodandAmericasLeaders.com encourages Americans to log on and take a multiple choice quiz to match up the appropriate religious quote to the founding father or American politician who actually said it. Conservative organizations like the American Family Association claim that: “The single most inclusive thing that you can do this time of year is wish people a Merry Christmas…we think it’s appropriate to ask them to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the reason for the season.” Americans remain divided on the ‘religion’ issue as do their elected representatives. After Senate majority leader Harry Reid suggested that the Senate might have to work after Christmas, Republican Senators Jon Kyl and Jim Demint were more than displeased. Senator Kyl said, “It is impossible to do all of the things that the majority leader laid out without doing — frankly, without disrespecting the institution and without disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians and the families of all of the Senate, not just the senators themselves but all of the staff.”The reaction to his comments from many Americans was anything but favorable, especially those Americans fighting to sustain themselves in this tough economy all year round.