A YMCA in California says that Santa is a member of the Christian Community and is not inclusive enough for all of the kids because of his Christian heritage. They want to be more inclusive and non-offensive so they are banning Santa and bringing in Frosty the Snowman to appeal to all the kids. Here is my qualm, YMCA stands for "Young Men's Christian Association" . I'm an atheist and I find this preposterous. How pathetic and cowardice to deny the very foundation of your organization, which has been around since 1809, for the sake of a bunch of pufters who refuse to assimilate or just ignore the basis of certain rituals and/or traditions. My daughter goes to a Christian School, my wife is a devout Christian, just because my beliefs don't necessarily adapt to theirs doesn't mean the world is over. I feel, as of late, that we are slowly becoming a country not of our own origins. America was founded and built to escape the tyranny of Totalitarian and Dictatorship style governments. Socialism was not in the foundation of America, but it has most certainly become more and more prevalent in our society today. We, at one time, were a county of Neo-Judaic philosophy, of Christian Theology. There was a time when kids were allowed to practice their religions without the fear of persecution, such is the foundation of our country. Now our freedoms are snuffed by overzealous right and left wing douche bags for the sake of fairness. Fairness for whom? Is it not the speakers of Islam and Christianity that are offending the patrons of Islam and Christianity. Islam, is an Arabic word meaning, "to be submissive" but it seems that our country, our traditions, our theories, our philosophies are the ones being sacrificed in the name of submissiveness. If you live in America and choose to practice the Muslim faith, you are most entitled to that lifestyle choice, if you are a Christian, you too are permitted the freedom of religion, and the Atheists have their place to be who they want to be, but to come out against another person for what they believe or don't believe is absurd. If you don't like Joel Olsteen on your television, then don't watch that channel. I don't want my daughter watching certain cartoons, do I call and protest the television stations and the creators of the show, no, I just don't let her watch those stations. It is absolutely perplexing how freedoms can go one direction for one group of people, but not for another, it begs the question, what is freedom? Miriam-Webster defines freedom as: the quality of state of being free, a political right. Very vague and ambiguous. But nonetheless we as people once possessed a freedom that was indeed free, and everyday our politicians are taking it away from us one day at a time. It will only be a matter of time until we are warned about our Prayers before our soccer games at Lafayette High School, or the prayers we have on my club team with CSC. I allow my kids this freedom, this Divine Right, for it is the way in which they were brought up, who am I to take that away from them? If I move to Palestine, and my family is a Christian family, I will most assuredly not attempt to remove Muhammad from the curriculum they teach. Public schools can teach you about Darwinism and Confucius (two men whom I study diligently) but mention the name Jesus Christ or speak a mere ounce of his work and there will be an uproar from some enraged moronic parent. They justify this by stating the offensive nature of the material to non-Christians, then there is the argument of separation between church and state. Allow me to clarify the concept of separation of church and state. It signifies the distant between organized religions and the nation state, by in which, no state shall name themselves as a specific religion. Louisiana cannot, under "constitution" (remember this phrase), claim to be a Christian, Muslim, Nihilistic, or any religion State. The term has been misconstrued and distorted for years. It was first written by Thomas Jefferson to the Dansbury Baptist's Association in 1802. The original text reads, "...I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State." The phrase was quoted by the Supreme Court in 1878 and then again in a series of cases starting in 1947, but this phrase is not and cannot be found in the U.S. Constitution. Now, the First Amendment does state, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
We have come to quite a crossroads as Americans. The world is laughing at us. We have organizations to protest other organizations. I'll be honest, it's embarrassing. When I read a story of a 6th grade boy in California who put an American Flag on his bicycle on Veterans Day in support of his fallen Grandfather and then gets threatened with suspension if he does it again because it offends the Muslims, and Jews in the school, it breaks my heart.
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