Thursday, December 13, 2007

Slippery Slope

I already wrote about one controversial thing in my blog within the last week, so I decided what the heck – I’ll do another. At this point, it really is okay with me to talk controversy. Quite frankly, why this is controversial is beyond my depth of understanding. I get why abortion and the death penalty are controversial, but this??? My sense is that is controversial to only a small percentage of Americans, but that may be my naivety.

The New Hampshire news has been carrying a story about a local school district that is being sued to have the Pledge of Allegiance removed from the school. Mind you, however, the school district already has a mandate that says students are not forced to say the pledge and can even remove themselves from the room while it is being said. My question to the fine folks, who are going to waste my tax dollars fighting something that really isn’t an issue if his/her child can leave the room, is why would you want to take away another student’s right to pay allegiance and respect to this fine nation that we live in? This fine nation that gives you the right to voice your opinion on the subject and gives your child the right to step out of the classroom? You are doing all of this, and wasting tax payer dollars, because of one word: God. What’s going to happen when the school district spends upwards of 6 figures to fight the case, then cuts extra programs from the school because they can’t afford them any longer? Your child will no longer get the fine arts class, the band class, the international club, the ski team, etc….because you are trying to make a ridiculous point. I bet you will be the first person to complain when your little prince or princess doesn’t get to take that school field trip to the Museum of Science that the kids look forward to every year.

Guess what – the majority of the nation thinks you are ridiculous. I guarantee that if we, as a nation, voted on keeping the Pledge of Allegiance in schools and the word God in the Allegiance, it would pass with a landslide victory. I hate the thought that a few appointed judges get to make this decision. Why can’t we, the American people get to decide? I will also say this, if the Pledge of Allegiance is ever removed from my child’s school, I will teach him the reasons why we say it and why this country is so great. Then I will encourage him to say it every day at school – not teacher led, but on his own. What’s the person who wants God removed from our country going to do then? Is that person going to sue my son for his freedom of speech?

While we are on the subject of removing God from America, I’m going to keep on going (quite frankly it’s a slippery slope and it can just keep going and going). It’s no different that the people that want all Nativity scenes removed from any public forum. If that happens, I will personally start a campaign to get every believer (home owner and business owner alike) across this country to put a nativity scene on their lawn or on their store fronts.

What’s next? Why don’t we just go ahead and cancel Christmas. Yep – let’s get rid of it as a national holiday. After all, (and some people appear not to know this) Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ. Almost everything about Christmas, and the days leading up to it have religious symbolism.
The candy cane was created by a Christian candy maker as a reminder of a shepherd’s staff. The red is a symbol of the blood shed by Jesus and the white is a symbol for His purity.

The Wreath symbolizes that God is the Alpha and Omega. He is everlasting and His kingdom knows no beginning or end.

Christmas Lights symbolize that Jesus is the light of the world; an everlasting light and the light of our salvation.

Holly symbolizes the crown of thorns.

The star at the top of your tree marks the place where Christ lay as an infant.
The angel at the top of your tree symbolizes the angels that proclaimed the birth of Christ.

The Christmas tree is the symbol of the Jesse Tree. Jesse was the father of Kind David. It is fro his lineage that the Christ received his earthly ancestry.
Santa Claus represents Saint Nicholas, who tossed pouches of gold coins through windows of needy people in his town.

The colors of Christmas: Red is symbolic of the blood Christ shed for our sin. Green is symbolic of the eternal life we have through Christ. White is symbolic of the purity of Christ. Gold is symbolic of the kingship and royalty of Christ.

Here’s the thing, when you remove God from America, will we also need to remove all of these things from our lives too? What’s next on the list of that loud minority of people that want God removed? I think these people are entitled to their opinion, I really, really do. When their opinion, however, starts to affect my life, I start to get annoyed. I think it’s time for the silent majority to step up and fight for what they believe.

Am I done being controversial on my blog? Nope, a fire was lit under my tush and now I just feel the need to write about what’s on my mind. It’s my blog, so it seems like just as a good a forum as any to write about this stuff.

2 comments:

Candace said...

I didn't know all of the history you shared about Christmas. I think I might have to add it to my post if you don't mind my cutting and pasting!?!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

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