Christmas as controversy

Those of us who grew up in more innocent times have noticed that each year, especially for the last decade or so, Christmas becomes more controversial.

A half-century ago, when I was born, it would have been unthinkable – at least in the United States – for Christmas to be an "issue." No one said "happy holidays" for fear of offending. Public schools celebrated Christmas without fear. Retailers understood where their bread was buttered – with the 96 percent of the country that celebrated Christmas, not the winter solstice. Presidents of the United States weren't afraid to mention the word "Christmas" on their Christmas cards. Even the American Civil Liberties Union was more civil in those days.

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This year, more so than any previous, there was a new intensity and frequency to the attacks on Christmas.

The good news, however, is that many of those attacks have been beaten back successfully, reversed by an onslaught of popular opinion, lawsuits, boycotts and threats of legal action.

What was the difference this year?

Maybe it sounds self-serving of me to say it, but I think the difference this year was right here – this news service, WorldNetDaily.com.

It wasn't that we were on a holy crusade. It wasn't that we were targeting anyone. It wasn't that we were on a mission. All we did was cover the news – news that probably wouldn't be covered without us. Much of it was picked up big time by other news agencies, radio talk-show hosts and other media, giving the coverage more punch, more resonance, more impact.

But it all started right here. Think of the craziness, the hyper-sensitive, politically correct nonsense we exposed to the world right here – and the way those perpetrating the shenanigans folded up their tents and retreated:

• There was the Wisconsin school that censored the sacred lyrics of "Silent Night" – even changing the name of the Christmas carol to "Cold in the Night." But after letters from the Liberty Counsel law firm and countless phone calls and e-mails generated primarily from WND coverage, the school reversed its course and decided to permit the singing of "Silent Night" as it was originally written.

• I think of the school district that backed down from its policy of prohibiting Christian students from distributing Christmas cards that include the religious origins of the candy cane.

• There was the partial victory with Target stores, which, after experiencing a Christmas season boycott sponsored by the American Family Association, pledged to re-introduce Christmas themes into marketing efforts. Target, however, continued to ban Salvation Army bell ringers from its stores. In addition, AFA was able to call off a boycott of Sears after the retail chain decided to include "Merry Christmas" signs in its stores this year and add a Christmas greeting to its website.

• Just one day after WND broke a story about home-improvement retailer Lowe's dropping references to "Christmas trees" in favor of "holiday trees," the chain reversed course.

• Likewise, after a series of reports by WND, Wal-Mart officials satisfied demands by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, which had called for a national boycott after accusing the retail giant of discriminating against Christmas while promoting other seasonal holidays by name, such as Kwanzaa and Hanukkah.

I could go on and on with the list of victories, but you get the point. On almost a daily basis since Thanksgiving, WND has been exposing the ridiculous attacks on Christmas, the double-standards, the hypocrisy, the censorship, the bigotry, the divisiveness. And it has paid off.

The Grinches will be back next year. The Scrooges have been around for a long time and they are not going away. But thank God he has given us a vehicle for exposing them and beating them back this Christmas. The American people can now see clearly what is happening. They are beginning to understand the trend and fight back.

And we'll be back next year, too, to shine the light of day on the activities of the anti-Christmas zealots and those who cave under the pressures they exert.