Bill O’Reilly: “We Won The War On Christmas Battle.” During his Fox News show, Bill O’Reilly declared victory in the supposed “War on Christmas,” before claiming that other Judeo-Christian values were under attack. O’Reilly lambasted President Obama and the White House for empowering “secular progressives” to pressure school districts around the country to decide not to use terms like “Easter bunny” and “Easter egg.”

O’REILLY: More evidence that Judeo-Christian tradition is under attack in America. That is the subject of this evening’s Talking Points Memo. If you watch the Factor, you know that we won the “War on Christmas” battle. A few years ago some American companies ordered their employees not to say “Merry Christmas.” Remember that? We presented the facts to you, you told the stores you wouldn’t buy there. The crazy edict was quickly rescinded. Power to the people. But the war on Judeo-Christian tradition continues on in some public school districts. In 10 days it will be Easter Sunday. But in some schools you are not allowed to say the word “Easter.” On Long Island, the East Meadow school district, holding a Spring egg hunt — not Easter eggs, Spring eggs. Same thing in Prospect Heights, Illinois. Manhattan Beach, California. Flat Rock Elementary School in South Carolina, and a school district in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. No Easter. They are having Spring egg events. Moderated by a Spring bunny, at least in San Diego. I know it’s stupid. You know it’s stupid. But it’s happening, and there is a reason why it’s happening. Secular progressives are running wild with President Obama in the White House. They feel unchained, liberated and they are trying to diminish any form of religion. The goal is to marginalize religious opposition to secular programs. [Fox News, The O’Reilly Factor, 3/21/13]

Sean Hannity In 2011: “Shouldn’t Surprise Anyone That Some On The Left Are Waging A War On [Easter]” During the April 21, 2011, edition of his Fox News show, Sean Hannity teased a segment on progressives supposedly waging a war on Easter. During the segment itself, Hannity claimed groups like the Catholic League were “unhappy about how much disrespect is being shown towards the Christian faith”:

HANNITY: Now, Easter is one of the most important holidays for Christians. And as we are in the midst of Holy Week, some groups like the Catholic League are unhappy about how much disrespect is being shown towards the Christian faith.

Billo The Clown: still dumb as a rock.

h/t: MMFA

A Texas state representative pre-filed legislation that would allow public school officials to use “traditional winter greetings” such as “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Hanukkah” on school grounds.

The “Merry Christmas Bill” would grant “the right to celebrate on school property with displays associated with those holidays, including Menorahs, Christmas trees and Nativity scenes.” State Rep. Dwayne Bohac (R-Houston), the bill’s author, explained his inspiration:

“This bill originated when I picked up my first-grade son from school last year and asked him how his day went. He told me that his class had decorated their holiday tree with holiday ornaments. When I asked what a holiday tree was, he told me it was the same as a Christmas tree,” Bohac said. “After inquiring with school officials as to why the term “Holiday Tree” was being used, it became apparent that the school was fearful of litigation.”

Though Bohac wants to protect school officials from litigation, it is likely his bill would face many legal challenges were it to become law.

H/T: ThinkProgress

WorldNetDaily columnist Burt Prelutsky claims that the supposed War on Christmas is the fault of “my fellow Jews” who intend to “pull off their own version of the Spanish Inquisition, forcing Christians to either deny their faith and convert to agnosticism or suffer the consequences.”

“When it comes to pushing the multicultural, anti-Christian agenda, you find Jewish judges, Jewish journalists and the largely Jewish funded ACLU at the forefront,” he writes, “anti-Semitism is no longer a problem in society; it’s been replaced by a rampant anti-Christianity.”

Prelutsky goes on to attack Jewish Americans for not showing enough support for the Republican Party and not being grateful that America is “a Christian nation.”

Fox News demonstrated the fundamental hypocrisy of its claim that progressives are engaged in a war on Christmas by expressing outrage at Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee because he uses the term “holiday tree” rather “Christmas tree” to refer to the tree that will adorn the statehouse during the holiday season. However, minutes later, Fox announced that it would host its own “holiday wish list” segment.

Fox News has repeatedly attacked people and organizations who use the term holiday when the network would prefer them to use the term Christmas, claiming that they are engaging in a “war on Christmas.”

On Fox & Friends First, co-host Heather Nauert claimed Chafee made the “decision to kill Christmas,” alluding to a decision by the governor not to host a tree lighting ceremony at the statehouse this year. 

From the 11.29.2012 edition of FNC’s Fox and Friends First:

Chafee reportedly made the decision because in 2011, protesters attended the tree lighting ceremony to criticize the governor for using the term “holiday tree.” Fox played its part in creating controversy over the tree,enlisting viewers in a feverish and overblown campaign against the governor and the words “holiday tree.”

But only minutes after Fox complained of the Governor’s use of the word “holiday” in place of “Christmas,” Nauert  announced a new segment called “Fox & Friends First’s Holiday Wish list.”

h/t:  MMFA

The “War on Christmas” has arrived and the 700 Club is doing all it can to stoke fears that Christmas may cease to exist. Host Pat Robertson warned that “the Grinch is trying to steal our holiday” as “miserable” atheists “want to steal your holiday away from you” simply because they can’t stand the joy of Christmas. “Atheists don’t like our happiness, they don’t want you to be happy, they want you to be miserable,” he said. “They’re miserable so they want you to be miserable.”

h/t: Brian Tashman at RWW

Anti-gay groups have for years attacked the advance of LGBT equality by depicting it as part of a growing effort in America to silence Christians and shut down religious freedom. Evidence for this claim has always been questionable, however, and a new report this week documenting so-called “religious hostility” over the past several years is no exception.

The Family Research Council (FRC) and Liberty Institute published a study on Tuesday alleging that threats to religious liberty in America have reached an “all-time high.” The report – titled “The Survey of Religious Hostility in America” – lists over six hundred examples of “attacks against people of faith” in the U.S. over the past several years. According to an “Open Letter to the American People” included in the report:

America today would be unrecognizable to our Founders. Our first freedom is facing a relentless onslaught from well-funded and aggressive groups and individuals who are using the courts, Congress, and the vast federal bureaucracy to suppress and limit religious freedom. This radicalized minority is driven by an anti- religious ideology that is turning the First Amendment upside down.

On Fox & Friends Tuesday morning, FRC president Tony Perkins touted the report, asserting that “our First Amendment has become a last priority for the courts.”

1. “Attacks” Are Loosely Defined. It’s unclear what standard FRC used to define “attacks” on religious liberty, but the report seems to include any incident in which there was even a disagreement relating to a person’s religious beliefs.

According to FRC’s report, “attacks” on religious liberty included: 

• The Post Office advising employees to greet customers by saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”
• The Air Force no longer requiring officers to encourage their subordinates to attend chapel
• A secular group criticizing UPS for issuing a Mother Teresa memorial stamp
• A group challenging a church’s non-profit status after it campaigned in favor of ousting pro-equality judges

FRC’s report includes cases in which no legal action was taken at all. According to the report, the mere existence of public criticism of a religious display or event – like a complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation – was enough to constitute an “attack” on religious freedom. 

2. “Attacks” Included Disputes That Were Resolved In Favor Of Religious Liberty. Another problem with the report is that it includes any legal dispute related to religious liberty, even if that dispute ended up being resolved in favor of protecting religions individuals or organizations. On just the first two pages of the report’s recorded “attacks,” for instance, over half of the legal disputes that reached adjudication were resolved in favor of the First Amendment and protecting religious liberty.

This over-inclusive definition of an “attack” seriously undermines the report’s credibility; a number of the “attacks” included in the report are actually examples of religious liberty being protected by American courts – the very courts Perkins was criticizing on Fox.

3. The Report’s Examples Date Back To 1980. Although the report claims to focus on “attacks” on religious liberty over the past decade, its examples actuallydate back to as early as 1980, like the case of Florey v. Sioux Falls. The report includes dozens of examples from the 80s and 90s, and several other examples are left entirely undated.

FRC’s report is undoubtedly red meat for religious conservatives, who repeatedly accuse progressives – and especially LGBT activists – of attacking Christianity and religious freedom. As a piece of credible research, however, the report reveals very little about the actual state of religious liberty in the U.S.

h/t: equalitymatters.org

One of the defining qualities of late December is the predictable and ritualized nature of America’s holiday season. Other than discovering what’s inside the wrapped gift boxes, there’s no mystery or suspense to it anymore. The Christmas music starts right before Thanksgiving. Then come the flickering lights, the red-and-green decor, Hollywood’s vacation movie blitz, and finally, with media charlatans turning the key, the fake outrage machine rumbles back to life.

Like a narcissist’s souped-up 4-by-4, this turbocharged colossus of self-righteous indignation makes a lot of noise and leaves a mess in its wake—but ultimately says a lot more about its drivers’ pitiable insecurities than anything else.

Meanwhile, under the headline “‘Modern Grinches’ Step Up Anti-Christmas Efforts,” the Christian Broadcasting Network lashed out at cities for trying to respect the separation of church and state at holiday time, and the American Family Association continued its annual effort to denigrate companies that substitute “Happy Holidays” for “Merry Christmas.”

To know that this machine’s outrage is indeed fake is to appreciate some telling facts about the alleged transgressions. For instance, the government’s recent revenue and regulatory moves were entirely routine and nonreligious, while Gov. Chafee was just preserving a longstanding tradition in a state founded as a haven for religious pluralism. Similarly, many cities are still including Christmas in their winter festivities—they are just including other celebrations as well. And if saying “Happy Holidays” somehow represents a “War on Christmas,” then none other than Christian icon Tim Tebow must be one of the aggressors’ lead field generals, what with the NFL quarterback now appearing in a television ad wishing Coloradans “Happy Holidays”—not “Merry Christmas.”

One of News Hounds complaints about the Fox “News” Phony War On Christianity (not to be confused with its seasonal Phony War On Christmas) is that the station’s Good Christians only ever seem to talk to the station’s other Good Christians about the Phony War On Christianity.  There is no other point of view on display.  Maybe Bolling has been reading News Hounds, otherwise why would he invite Dan Barker, of the Freedom From Religion Foundation on the air to give the other side of the story?  FFRF is the group protesting the placement of a manger with the baby Jesus at a county courthouse in Texas.  Several Fox “News” televangelists had taken up the Texas manger previously, with Bolling even paraphrasing a phone conversation he had with Freedom From Religion spokesperson on The Five, who argued for the inclusion of the Flying Spaghetti Monster at the manger.  This would have been the first time, to the best of my knowledge, that we’d actually be hearing from someone from that organization.  However, if you were hoping to hear an intellectual debate, you’d be sorely disappointed.  Aside from Bolling’s lack of intelligence, the minute Barker started espousing his group’s view on what Jesus represents, Bolling took great umbrage on behalf of the Son of God. 

Watch the video here.

“Sir!  Sir!  I have to stop ya.  This is my show.  You see this?  The name of the show is ‘Follow the Money with Eric Bolling.’  I can’t allow you to talk like that on my show.  You’re absolutely wrong.  You, sir, are denigrating the name of Jesus Christ on my show.  I’m not going to let it happen.  I’m going to say goodbye to you right now.  Thank you very much for your time.  ‘Preciate your time.  Buh bye.”

h/t: Aunty Em Ericann at Newshounds

Tis’ the Season to be jolly, or if you are the American Family Association, to construct a list of aberrant companies out to destroy Christmas. Offering up their yearly “Naughty of Nice” list, the religious-right organization is branding companies according to whether they recognize Christmas enough. If a company uses the term Christmas “on a regular basis, we consider that company Christmas-friendly,” AFA says. If a company “refers to Christmas infrequently, or in a single advertising medium,” then they’re listed as “marginal” and are bordering on delinquency. But if a company uses Christmas “sparingly in a single or unique product description, but as a company, does not recognize it,” then that company “censoring” (or waging all out war on) Jesus’s birthday. Here is AFA’s list, updated Nov. 30:

Update

Incidentally, AFA should be kinder to the lingerie models of Victoria’s Secret and consider an upgrade to “marginal” as they did wish Americans “a Merry Christmas” in their holiday video. They are “Angels,” after all.

The “War on Christmas” fallacy continues.