[mrnoodle]

I'm trying to get a bunch of work done before the holiday, so I can't spend as much time on this as I'd like (and I haven't read all the arguments after my last post), but let me try to clarify who I'm addressing..

I'm not against people of other religions, or people who don't follow a religion. I'm specifically addressing the small, vocally anti-Christian crowd that is actively involved in trying to mute all references to faith outside of a church building. I support the freedom of any religious group to practice their religion, and I support the right of non-religious people to abstain.

What I don't get is how one can draw a parallel between a theocracy and a government that simply doesn't work against people of faith at every opportunity. I think that if a local body, such as a city council, pays for the electricity for a "Christmas light" display, it is not guilty of religious tyranny. If the white house wants a "Christmas tree", that's not the same thing as a federally mandated celebration of Christmas. If Chaim Abraham Finkelstein is elected president and wants a 400 foot menorah on the White House lawn, that doesn't mean that they're forcing me to celebrate Hannukah.

To say that ALL faiths must be represented simultaneously or NO faith can be mentioned by ANY public official while he or she is on the clock is unrealistic, and the pursuit of such a goal is more than futile -- it goes against what this country is about. This isn't a melting pot anymore, it's a carefully segmented TV dinner, with each course demanding that it be given its own serving tray.

America celebrates Christmas. You don't want to? You are free to celebrate something else without persecution. Good luck getting the same treatment anywhere else. But just because you don't celebrate Christmas doesn't mean you're entitled to have it hidden from view so that you're not "offended". Furthermore, a government that recognizes the main holiday of the vast majority of its citizens is not a theocracy. A theocracy would prohibit you from celebrating yours, and nothing of the sort has ever happened or will happen here.