Happy Birthday Jesus!
Merry Christmas everybody and Happy Birthday Jesus! I start my entry today with the traditional holiday greeting and added a personal message to our savior with a very special purpose.
You see yesterday I made up a little sign that read "Happy Birthday Jesus". It also had a cute little drawing of a birthday cake. I brought it to work and hung it up behind my bench. (Just to let you know I work in a carpentry shop and I'm in the habit of "posting" signs and comics on a regular basis so I can enjoy them and spark lively, usually political, conversations.)
For the last week I've had a sign that read 'Merry Christmas". I had put the 'Christ' in a slightly larger font and made it red to contrast the other letters that were green. I also had another sign showing the letter "L" with the international "No" sign over it. (The red circle with the diagonal line) When you sound it out it's "Noel"! I took down the Noel sign to make room for the Birthday sign. I thought that, being Christmas Eve, it was a cute and appropriate way to decorate my work area.
Apparently someone else didn't think the way I did. My Foreman came to me and asked that I take the sign down. The "Happy Birthday Jesus" sign was too much for someone and he registered a 'formal compliant'. My Foreman thought it was ridiculous but he had to ask. I complied because the last thing I want to do is cause any trouble.
Now think about this. Is an anonymous persons "right" not to be in the same room with the written name of Christ superior to my REAL Constitutional Rights to both free speech and freedom of religion? Was this mysterious "someone" put-out or inconvenienced in some way? Did my posting a sign wishing our Savior a happy birthday create a "hostile work environment"?
The other question I have is this, "When did we start letting the lunatics run the asylum?" Well maybe "lunatics" is a bit of a harsh word (maybe not) but we have certainly let the most insult-able people among us set the tone for our public discourse. We've let those in the tiny minority tell the vast majority of us what we can do and not do, say and not say, write and not write. What happened to our freedom of expression, speech, thought? Why do we even worry? I can tell you quite simply in two little words - LAW SUIT!
I read in the paper today, on Christmas morning of all days, about a cemetery were the town council was deciding whether to remove the cross that adorned the wrought iron entry way sign. The sign was put up with privately collected money but the problem was that it was on PUBLIC land. Now, no one has filed a law suit against the town petitioning to have the cross removed but the town council is worried that someone just might! THIS IS INSIPID! People in this country where the motto is "IN GOD WE TRUST" are paranoid that any mention of God or Jesus will automatically bring down the might of the courts system with all it's inherent costs.
And that's were the real threat lies. Not with someone wishing you Merry Christmas, taking about Jesus or putting a Nativity scene on the courthouse grounds but with the very real systematic destruction of the RIGHT to express our ideas and beliefs AT ALL! By the courts we are being threatened with a hit in the pocket book, usually with the help of the ACLU.
We have become a country of cowards. Almost as cowardly as my anonymous antagonist!
We won't risk confrontation because it's costly. Defending a business against this kind of spurious attack is expensive. Better to cave into the demands of the few than to stand up for our rights.
Unfortunately, because I was in a private work space and not a public arena, I had to comply with the owners wishes. But how many times do we capitulate when it comes to our commonly owned public areas?
I did put up a replacement sign after checking with my Foreman though. It read, "You're a mean one... MISTER GRINCH!"
You see yesterday I made up a little sign that read "Happy Birthday Jesus". It also had a cute little drawing of a birthday cake. I brought it to work and hung it up behind my bench. (Just to let you know I work in a carpentry shop and I'm in the habit of "posting" signs and comics on a regular basis so I can enjoy them and spark lively, usually political, conversations.)
For the last week I've had a sign that read 'Merry Christmas". I had put the 'Christ' in a slightly larger font and made it red to contrast the other letters that were green. I also had another sign showing the letter "L" with the international "No" sign over it. (The red circle with the diagonal line) When you sound it out it's "Noel"! I took down the Noel sign to make room for the Birthday sign. I thought that, being Christmas Eve, it was a cute and appropriate way to decorate my work area.
Apparently someone else didn't think the way I did. My Foreman came to me and asked that I take the sign down. The "Happy Birthday Jesus" sign was too much for someone and he registered a 'formal compliant'. My Foreman thought it was ridiculous but he had to ask. I complied because the last thing I want to do is cause any trouble.
Now think about this. Is an anonymous persons "right" not to be in the same room with the written name of Christ superior to my REAL Constitutional Rights to both free speech and freedom of religion? Was this mysterious "someone" put-out or inconvenienced in some way? Did my posting a sign wishing our Savior a happy birthday create a "hostile work environment"?
The other question I have is this, "When did we start letting the lunatics run the asylum?" Well maybe "lunatics" is a bit of a harsh word (maybe not) but we have certainly let the most insult-able people among us set the tone for our public discourse. We've let those in the tiny minority tell the vast majority of us what we can do and not do, say and not say, write and not write. What happened to our freedom of expression, speech, thought? Why do we even worry? I can tell you quite simply in two little words - LAW SUIT!
I read in the paper today, on Christmas morning of all days, about a cemetery were the town council was deciding whether to remove the cross that adorned the wrought iron entry way sign. The sign was put up with privately collected money but the problem was that it was on PUBLIC land. Now, no one has filed a law suit against the town petitioning to have the cross removed but the town council is worried that someone just might! THIS IS INSIPID! People in this country where the motto is "IN GOD WE TRUST" are paranoid that any mention of God or Jesus will automatically bring down the might of the courts system with all it's inherent costs.
And that's were the real threat lies. Not with someone wishing you Merry Christmas, taking about Jesus or putting a Nativity scene on the courthouse grounds but with the very real systematic destruction of the RIGHT to express our ideas and beliefs AT ALL! By the courts we are being threatened with a hit in the pocket book, usually with the help of the ACLU.
We have become a country of cowards. Almost as cowardly as my anonymous antagonist!
We won't risk confrontation because it's costly. Defending a business against this kind of spurious attack is expensive. Better to cave into the demands of the few than to stand up for our rights.
Unfortunately, because I was in a private work space and not a public arena, I had to comply with the owners wishes. But how many times do we capitulate when it comes to our commonly owned public areas?
I did put up a replacement sign after checking with my Foreman though. It read, "You're a mean one... MISTER GRINCH!"
posted by Richard Ammons at 8:25 AM
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