{"id":2678,"date":"2011-12-06T01:45:35","date_gmt":"2011-12-06T07:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/?p=2678"},"modified":"2015-03-13T15:35:41","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T20:35:41","slug":"the-score-is-tied-merry-christmas-2-happy-holidays-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/12\/06\/the-score-is-tied-merry-christmas-2-happy-holidays-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Takes the Lead: Merry Christmas 2 – Happy Holidays 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

During Christmastime, oops, the holiday season, or, um, whatever, I find it interesting to observe the institutional gyrations as businesses, schools, and governments deal with the challenge of Christmas. Traditionally, of course, \u201cMerry Christmas\u201d prevailed, along with Christmas trees and even nativity scenes. But, in recent years, concerns about the feelings of non-Christian folk have led to the masking or squelching of Christmas celebrations in favor of neutered \u201choliday happenings.\u201d In my children\u2019s elementary school, for example, we had a \u201choliday concert\u201d rather than a \u201cChristmas concert.\u201d The \u201cseasonal songs\u201d never mentioned anything remotely related to the birth of Jesus.<\/p>\n

A couple of recent news stories caught my eye, bringing this years holiday bowl score to a tie.<\/p>\n

Happy Holidays \u2013 1<\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Photo from http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/thegirlsny\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Happy Holidays has prevailed in Rhode Island, at least for now. Governor Lincoln Chafee insists that the 17-foot tall spruce tree to be erected in the State House is a \u201choliday tree,\u201d not a \u201cChristmas tree.\u201d Thus, Chafee has thumbed his nose, not only at Christmas, but also at the Rhode Island House of Representatives that passed a symbolic resolution in January that the tree be called a \u201cChristmas tree.\u201d Chafee is not the first governor of Rhode Island to refer to the tree, which looks a whole lot like a Christmas tree, in religiously-neutral language.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Merry Christmas \u2013 2<\/h3>\n

Less than a mile away, there will be a \u201cChristmas tree\u201d on display at the City Hall of Providence, Rhode Island. It will be 35-feet tall, or more than double the size of the nearby \u201choliday tree\u201d at the State House. And it will be, unquestionably, known as a \u201cChristmas tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last month, the Canadian government decreed that there were to be no Christmas decorations on display in the Service Canada offices. (Service Canada is a government program that helps Canadians gain access to government services.) Employees \u201cwere directed not to display any festive furnishings in places that the public would see or have access to<\/a>.\u201d But, lo and behold, Human Resources Minister Diane Finley reversed the earlier directive. According to her spokesperson<\/a>, \u201cMinister Finley has asked Service Canada to send a revised directive to employees that they can celebrate Christmas or the holidays as they please. This includes decorations in Service Canada offices across Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Current score: Merry Christmas 2 \u2013 Happy Holidays 1. But the game isn\u2019t over yet.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During Christmastime, oops, the holiday season, or, um, whatever, I find it interesting to observe the institutional gyrations as businesses, schools, and governments deal with the challenge of Christmas. Traditionally, of course, \u201cMerry Christmas\u201d prevailed, along with Christmas trees and even nativity scenes. But, in recent years, concerns about the feelings of non-Christian folk have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16618,16661],"tags":[21656,16680,16679,16681,16682],"class_list":["post-2678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas","category-christmas-culture-and-christ","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-tree","tag-happy-holidays","tag-holiday-tree","tag-rhode-island"],"yoast_head":"\nChristmas Takes the Lead: Merry Christmas 2 - Happy Holidays 1<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"During Christmastime, oops, the holiday season, or, um, whatever, I find it interesting to observe the institutional gyrations as businesses, schools, and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/12\/06\/the-score-is-tied-merry-christmas-2-happy-holidays-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christmas Takes the Lead: Merry Christmas 2 - Happy Holidays 1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During Christmastime, oops, the holiday season, or, um, whatever, I find it interesting to observe the institutional gyrations as businesses, schools, and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/12\/06\/the-score-is-tied-merry-christmas-2-happy-holidays-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mark D. 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