Opinion
Dry Bones sif TES
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A MAN IN AFGHANISTAN
FACED THE DEATH PENALTY
FOR CONVERTING FROM ISLAM
TO CHRISTIANITY!
Editorial
Public Square Protocol
T
he debate over the
constitutional implica-
tions of an American
Christmas has become as
familiar as a snowman in the
December landscape.
There are many who don't
understand what the fuss is
about in protesting the place-
ment of holiday symbols, even
those as innocuous as Santa
Claus and red-nosed reindeer, on
government property.
Part of the answer came
recently in St. Paul, Minn.,
where the Easter Bunny was
displayed in the lobby of city
hall with a sign saying "Happy
Eastet" It was removed when
the city's human rights director
complained that it might offend
those who were not Christians.
The decision touched off a
storm of criticism on many
talk shows, which derided it as
another example of oversensitiv-
ity to a harmless tradition. One
St. Paul council member said it
was too bad when the "coming of
spring" couldn't be observed by
the city.
But there is a world of differ-
ence between the observations of
these two major holidays on the
Christian religious calendar. And,
unfortunately, permitting Santas
in December opens the way to
bunnies in April.
Christmas has become part
of an American winter carnival
extending from Thanksgiving to
New Year's. While deeply rooted
in religion, its actual observance
has evolved into an all-embrac-
ing party in which Jews are
eagerly invited to join. In fact,
the invitation is so open that it
has given rise to the "December
Dilemma;' which so concerns the
parents of Jewish children sur-
rounded by this holiday obser-
vance.
But Easter is another story .
entirely. Good Friday and Easter
lie at the very core of Christian
religious doctrine — belief in
the death and resurrection of the
man Christians worship as the
Messiah.
Historically, this was not a
good time for Jews. Inflamed by
sermons about the crucifixion,
for which Jews were held respon-
sible, mobs frequently would
storm into the Jewish sections
of European cities, ready to burn
and kill. Those memories are not
that far in the past, still within
the reach of people living today.
While Christmas reaches out,
Easter is exclusionary. Either you
accept the underlying theme of
resurrection — symbolized by
the onset of spring, eggs and an
animal noted for its procreative
tendencies — or you don't.
Easter is tied inextricably to
Passover, since the Last Supper
is believed by.Christians to have
been the seder meal. Both are
major holidays, with Passover
AFGHANISTAN ?
ISN'T THAT WHERE
AMERICANS DIED TO
BRING DEMOCRACY?
drybonesblog.com
celebrating freedom and deliver-
ance. It lies at the very founda-
tion of Jewish nationhood.
It should be recognized, how-
ever, that neither holiday has a
place in a civic observance. That
is essentially why the struggle
to keep tokens of Christmas out
of the public square, although
unpopular in some quarters, is a
worthy one.
We can extend best wishes to
our neighbors in both cases. But
reindeer and bunnies should stay
where they belong, as part of pri-
vate celebrations.
❑
Reality Check
Blog Your Worries Away
hat if Moses had to -
contend with blog-
gers? It's the season
to harbor such thoughts. After
all, aren't we supposed to feel
that it was us making the trip
out of Egypt?
As if Moses didn't have enough
problems, with the Hebrew
nation complaining every step of
the way, blogs would have made
it impossible.
"What kind of stupid plagues
are these? Why not some kidney
stones or an elephant stampede?"
"Do we really have to kill a lamb?
Wouldn't a red Crayola make the
same point and be kinder to ani-
mals?""You call this stuff bread?"
Who did this guy say was telling
him to lead us out of here? What
is he, delusional?"
Of course, I don't know if the
headline in the Land of Goshen
Gazette would have been any
better if today's newspaper
policies were in vogue then.
"Pharaoh: Behind the Whip, a
Sensitive Guy"
We probably should just be
grateful we got out when we did.
Because blogs and meek, inof-
fensive journalism are too much
with us today, and one feeds
right into the other.
Dave Barry, longtime colum-
nist at the Miami Herald, has
said that if he were just starting
out, his kind of writing would
have no chance of getting in the
paper.
I've heard the same thing
about Howard Cossell. The
laugh-a-minute celebrity wor-
ship that now passes for most
TV sports journalism has no
room for his kind of iconoclasm.
That is the saddest commen-
tary I can make on the state of
American mainstream media.
They shudder at giving offense.
They fear being edgy.
Not every paper.
.You'll 'still find some
provocative stuff
in major publica-
tions — the New
York Times and Wall
Street Journal and
Washington Post.
But more and
more dailies are
falling under the
stewardship of
corporate munchkins who start
quivering when they get one
angry letter from an unhappy, or
even unhinged, reader. The safest
course is to be bland. That way
they can't be blamed.
I am told by excellent sources
that one paper in this area was
not allowed to run any staff-gen-
erated articles of opinion — edi-
torials or columns — on the
recent Muslim cartoon riots.
So the media still have not
learned their lesson, or choose
bile with punctuation marks,
not to. When they
a major factor in the bitter
embraced political
and growing polarization of
correctness in the
American politics. But they have
mid-1980s, the rise
an audience because they do not
of conservative talk
shy away from issues that the
radio followed almost
established media don't want to
immediately. As did
touch. They fill a vacuum.
a general decline in
The mainstream press can't
newspaper circulation.
They opened the door, • figure out where their younger
readers are. I think I can tell
and the Limbaughs of
the world rushed right them, and they won't even have
to pay me a consultant's fee.
through it.
Journalism must give offense
As they retreat even further
from time to time, or else it is
from honest controversy, their
a fairly worthless exercise. Not
function increasingly is taken
maliciously or gratuitously. But
over by Internet bloggers.
in the course of honest reporting
I don't think this is an
and commentary, toes can get
especially healthy thing. Sure,
stepped on and feelings are hurt.
many blogs are amusing and
And a press that walks on egg-
informative. But a lot of them
shells lies through omission. ❑
are unconstrained by accuracy,
accountability, reason, fairness or
even decent writing. They are the George Cantor's e-mail address is
gcantor614@aoLcom.
anti-journalism.
Much of the material is simply
iN
April 13 • 2006
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