Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has declared that he will keep calling the city's 48' Nova Scotia spruce a "Christmas tree" regardless of the fact that the city is officially calling it a "Holiday Tree" this year.
"I grew up with a Christmas tree, I'm going to stay with a Christmas tree."
Many conservative Christians are not happy with the removal of "Christmas" from the seasonal symbol.
Neither is the Nova Scotia man who cut the tree down for donation to Boston, a tradition of "thanks" since 1917 for Boston's help in the aftermath of an explosion in Halifax that killed 1,900 people.
Donnie Hatt was indignant and said he would not have donated the tree if he had known of the name change.
"I'd have cut it down and put it through the chipper," he told a Canadian newspaper. "If they decide it should be a holiday tree, I'll tell them to send it back. If it was a holiday tree, you might as well put it up at Easter."
Sorry, Donnie, but you can't celebrate Easter anymore, either. You might call it a "Spring Holiday Tree" but that's about as far as you can go these days, at least in the law-suit-fearing, politically correct, secularist cities on the outer fringes of the United States.
Just wondering..... what other holiday tradition besides Christianity puts up a hewn evergree tree and decorates it with lights, ornaments and tinsel every year in December? Kwazaa? Hannukah? (my Jewish friends had "bushes")
Oh, I see. We just take the symbol and remove what it symbolizes! As a Christian I consider that to be a rape of my faith. The tree is a symbol for the everlasting life that is ours in Jesus Christ whose birthday we celebrate on December 25 each year.
How dare a city take my religious symbol and strip it of its significance. What right does government have to step into my religious tradition and manipulate it for its own commercial purposes.
Whatever happens to the so-called "separation of church and state" when the state can mess with my religion but will not permit me to express my faith in a public place?
If the city of Boston does not want to have a "Christmas Tree" this year then should not have a tree at all! Period!
Let them put up a totem poll and offend other people for a change.
"Merry Holiday?" Bah.....Humbug!
Article comments
1 - Wisewoman
Um, hate to tell you buddy, but that "Christmas" tree was around and being decorated at the winter solstice long before your Messiah came along. How dare you strip MY religious symbol, and that of all other proud, born-again Pagans, of its significance?
2 - Bird of Paradise
Wisewoman, Religions have always borrowed and adapted from one another. Symbols compete with one another sort of like a free-market system. Christianity took the old tree symbol from Germanic paganism and re-Christ-ened it, so to speak. The old meanings fell into disuse. The new meanings replaced the old. Wicca often takes the Christian cross and inverts it for its ceremonies. Masons use Christian imagry as do the Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses and Christian Science. They are welcom to use any Christian symbols as they please. I do not believe that the cross has been copyrighted.....nor has the Christmas Tree.
The point of my post is that, under our U.S. Constitution, the "state" is not to meddle in religious affairs. In particular it is forbidden to establish any religion as being particularly favored by the state (this was originally meant to be applied only to the Federal Government but has long since been deemed to apply to State and local governments as well.)
When the government (in this case the city of Boston) takes a de facto religious symbol and transforms it into something it declares to be "secular" and void of spiritual meaning then it has disrespected a religious belief and has done so in violation of the 1st Amemdment.
If, for example, you are a secularist, you cannot get the government to support your particular view and transform someone else's religious symbol in support of your beliefs. That is, by definition, an establishment of a religion by the state.
In any case, feel free to decorate any tree anyway you like and call it whatever pleases you. Be my guest....this is, after all, a free country, after all!
3 - Pat Simon
I hope the gentleman that donated the Christmas tree makes them return it. The tree is going up for Christmas, hence, it is a Christmas tree. Call the City of Boston and voice your complaint. Oh, but don't call on Christmas Day! That is a paid day off for all City of Boston employees.
4 - Misty
We're just going to start pronouncing "Holiday" like this "Holy Day" and see what happens then.
5 - Josh
What about all of those stores that have hijacked the religious Christmas and turned it into a free-for-all economic frenzy? Aren;t they going much further to destroy the Christmas spirit than any politician?